The Narrow Gate Blog

This article was originally published at chastity.com Back in “5½ Soul-Crushing Traps To Avoid While Dating” I wrote about selfishness. I’d like to think that article cured the world of it’s selfishness, and we’re one hundred per cent selfless now. But I know that’s not true. I struggle with selfishness every day, and you probably do, too.So we have to keep working on it. And one sure-fire way of getting over selfishness is learning to think about the other before yourself. When we do this, we w …

This article was originally published at catholicweekly.com.au The feast day to Mary Help of Christians has been celebrated in Australia since 1844 but the history to this day dates back to the start of the 1800’s.Napoleon Bonaparte had jailed Pius VI who died in jail. When Pope Pius VII was elected he too was jailed by Bonaparte, who kept him prisoner at Fontainbleau.The Holy Father vowed to God that if he were restored to the Roman See, he would institute a special feast in honour of Mary.The …

By Fr John FladerThis article was originally published in the Catholic Weekly. I have some Lebanese friends who are very excited about the arrival in Sydney of a replica of the tomb and of the body of St Charbel. I am not Lebanese myself and know nothing about this saint. What can you tell me about him?St Charbel was born into a poor Catholic Maronite family on 8 May 1828, in the mountain village of Bekaa Kafra in North Lebanon. Given the name Youssef, he was the youngest of five …

This article was originally published at edwardsri.com. Imagine a Pope approaching a statue of Mary, carrying a bullet in his hand, putting the bullet in Mary’s crown, and repeatedly saying to her, “You saved me…You saved me…”That’s what happened in 1982 when St. Pope John Paul visited the apparition site of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal, a year after he had been shot in St. Peter’s Square. But the pope wasn’t just giving thanks to Mary in a general way. He was recognizing the crucial role …

This article was originally published by Decided Excellence Catholic Media. September marks the month of the Sorrowful Mother, Mater Dolorosa, the woman who faithfully stayed with the Lord through his most vulnerable and physically weak moments on earth. In order to understand Our Lady’s role (especially during the Passion), we must first look to her Son, who set the stage for this great drama of our redemption. It is within his Passion that our suffering is made sweet and by which our frai …

This article first appeared at: catholicweekly.com.au The Saturday night rosary was a cornerstone of my family life growing up. After dinner was finished, all 12 of us would gather in the living room, sitting on the couch, chairs or the floor.The lights would be switched off and the candles next to the statue of Our Lady holding the child Jesus would be lit.Mum and Dad would then list all the people we were going to pray for and if any child had anybody else to add to the list they could do so. …

This article first appeared at: pintswithaquinas.com Muslims often try to convert non-believers — including Christians — to their religion, and they are succeeding far too often. As Islam becomes more widely practiced in the U.S. and Europe, you’re likely to meet a Muslim at some point who will challenge your Christian beliefs. Make sure to familiarize yourself with these three ways a Muslim may try to convert you. 1. They compare their rigorous fasting to …

This article first appeared at: stpaulcenter.com In contemporary society, most people have no awareness that the offering of sacrifice to God is a central act of the virtue of religion and thus a good and morally obligatory thing. Even Catholics who attend Mass are generally unaware that they are participating in an infinite offering to God or that that is the principal reason why there is a Sunday Mass obligation. The more society becomes secularized, the more the notion of sacrifice and its ob …

This article first appeared at: stpaulcenter.com Piero della Francesca was born in approximately 1415 and died on the very day Columbus landed in America, October 12, 1492. Better known in his time as a mathematician and geometer, he is now recognized as one of the greatest artists of the early Renaissance. We see on the left of this fresco’s background a barren landscape and leafless trees, whereas on the right nature is blooming, symbolic of the world before and after the Resurrection. The act …

This article first appeared at: stpaulcenter.com Every year in Lent the Church directs our thoughts to Jesus on the Cross. This is the sacred center of everything we believe and celebrate as Catholic Christians. Take away the Cross and you take away our salvation. Take away our salvation and everything “good” about the good news of the gospel evaporates.Most of us sense the importance of Jesus on the Cross, but how many of us really understand what was taking place? I would guess that very few c …