​A: When I was about 39 years old, I had an extreme back muscle issues stemming from crushed vertebrae in my neck that caused me to not be able to stand up straight or walk without being bent over. It caused me great pain and affected my attitude toward others. I tried chiropractors, doctors, and physical therapy. Although that helped some, there seemed to be no real relief for me either in spirit or body. One weekend we went to mass out in west Michigan and the priest announced that anyone who had serious illness or physical problems could stand up and that he would give us the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. I started to think maybe I could stand up, but my husband said to me, “I don’t think this includes you, you’re not at the danger of death”. But right after he said that, the priest announced, “The Anointing of the Sick is not a sacrament for those only at the point of death but fitting for the faithful beginning to be in danger of death from sickness or old age.  It is for those seriously ill”. He was quoting from the CCC 1513-14. The Church in her wisdom does not wait until it’s almost too late, but desires to reach her children at the beginning of serious illness both spiritually and physically.
I also had not realized that the Anointing of the Sick is a liturgical and communal celebration whether at home, hospital or at church, for a single person or a group (CCC1517). Sacraments affect more than just the person receiving them, it is meant to affect the whole Church, they are sacraments of unity because their spiritual or physical healing affect all of us. Because this sacrament must include the Liturgy of the Word preceded by an act of repentance to awaken the faith of the sick person and the grace that flows from a priest, it was fitting that it was celebrated within the Eucharist, the mass (CCC1517-19). Further, the sacrament requires the laying on of hands, prayer, and anointing with holy oil. It also helps that others are there to pray for us reminding us of our unity with Jesus’ suffering and with each other. It is fitting that it take place with others, especially within the Eucharist like it was for me in the parish in west Michigan. And like mass, it is most fitting and more powerful if the Sacrament of Reconciliation be made beforehand.
If a person recovers after his or her anointing, he can in the case of another grave illness or even if the same illness returns, receive this sacrament again and should be received at the beginning of such a case and not wait. In fact, even just before a serious operation it is fitting to receive the Anointing of the Sick (CCC 1515).
After I received my anointing, I gradually started to feel better. I started to walk up straight and the extreme pain subsided, but not all of the physical trouble went away. Jesus is concerned about the whole person and has compassion on us. When He walked the earth, He did not heal all who were sick but His healings were signs for a more radical healing of the victory over sin and His coming Kingdom. God knows what we can handle and what is necessary. He knows when we need to pick up our crosses and when we need a new outlook on illness. More than my physical healing that day, I received strengthening, peace, and courage to overcome the difficulty of my serious condition (CCC1520). My countenance was lifted out of the temptation to be angry and worn out enough to get back in the game so to speak, to be buoyed up in my spirit so I could pick up my cross and use it for His glory. 
If you are in serious illness, come, come to the Sacrament of Anointing, and see too what God will do. 

A: Octave in the Catholic Church means an eight-day period following a feast day. Eight is a special number, our Lord’s Resurrection was on the eighth day, Jewish boys just like Jesus were circumcised on the eighth day, and certain feasts of the Jewish religion lasted seven days ending on the eighth day, like the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Weeks. Eight then was and is a symbol of dedication, rebirth, thanksgiving, and or renewal. Octave comes from the Latin word “octo” meaning eight. Even in music there is an octave, meaning the eighth note in a sequence or scale.
There are two main feast days in the Catholic Liturgical Year: Christmas and Easter, both are solemnities or holy days of obligation that have eight days of observance that repeat or remind Catholics of the solemnity of those feasts. “The celebration of Easter and Christmas, the two greatest solemnities, continues for eight days, with each octave governed by its own rules” (General Norms of the Liturgical Calendar). The octave starts on the feast, so the octave of Christmas starts on the 25th. The next six days are called “days within the octave”, and the last day, the eighth day, is considered higher than the previous six days as if a culmination of the remembrance of Christmas. Each day though after the feast of Christmas is seen as a little Christmas celebrating the incarnation of the Word made flesh, Emmanuel, God with us. The octave of Christmas ends on the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, Jan 1st.  During the six days between the feast and solemnity of Christmas and Solemnity of Mary there are four more various feast days, St Stephen, St John the Evangelist, the Holy Innocents, and the Holy Family. During this time our priests wear white and it is shown as white on our liturgical calendars, with an exception on the feasts of the martyrs; St Stephen and the Holy Innocence where they wear red.
During the octave of Christmas there are various ways to commemorate the importance of the incarnation of Christ at Christmas. You can attend daily mass, celebrate his coming with friends and family, prayerfully reflect on the liturgical daily mass readings, and ...simply rest, rest in the Lord and His love for you. Wise men still seek Him! Do you have any special traditions to carry Christmas beyond the 25th? Merry Christmas to you my dear family in Christ!

A: “Technological progress is part of God's plan for creation, but people must take responsibility for using technologies like artificial intelligence to help humanity and not harm individuals or groups” (Vatican quote, Vatican City News, Jan 2025). AI is a tool to be used carefully and with investigation not to replace human intelligence but to compliment it (Antiqua et Nova, 112). Often AI generated information will have links to where its information was received from. It can be used as a search engine to help you find sources of information to investigate more fully. It is important when using AI, especially for religious or spiritual matters, to investigate these sources of information. These times can be overwhelming with so much information coming at us coupled with what seems like a lack of time. This can be a big temptation to habitually rely on AI for truth instead of investigating where the information really comes from or if the words were taken out of context. “Repeated actions build and destroy habits, not just in our sense appetites and wills, but also in our intellects” (To Think Things Through to the End, Christopher Blum). Real investigation and study takes work and time to think things through, to reason and discern with the human conscience and morals so our intellect and soul takes in the information more deeply and surely. While AI may provide information, it does not actually educate, which requires rational thinking, reasoning, and discerning.  “Wisdom of heart “cannot be sought from machines, … it goes in search of those who are worthy of it (Antique et Nova, 114, Wis6:12-10).  St Pope John Paul II further addressed this by saying, “the search for ultimate truth seems often to be neglected” and “it can be said that present-day man does not think things through to the end”. Using AI habitually can lead to spiritual or intellectual laziness if we are not careful.
While AI can be a very effective tool, at times it can produce faulty wording, and even at times use faulty information that others uploaded on purpose to misrepresent the truth. A careful eye is necessary. A healthy example of using AI for spiritual matters would be to ask AI where to find a specific topic in the Bible and then use that to look it up yourself and then read before the verse  and after it, along with the scriptural commentary that goes along with it.  It would be unhealthy to ask AI what the Catholic Church teaches on a subject without investigating the source it used or questioning its wording, and even worse use this information to teach without investigating it.
In the end using AI is a technological advancement to be used responsibly as a tool, not as the end of truth itself nor as a replacement for careful personal thinking, reasoning, and discerning.
Links to more information:
https://www.usccb.org/news/2025/morality-ai-depends-human-choices-vatican-says-new-document
https://whatweneednow.substack.com/p/to-think-things-through-to-the-end (This is an article from my history professor at Augustine Institute.)
https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_ddf_doc_20250128_antiqua-et-nova_en.html
 

A: Everyone, let me say again: everyone goes through a cycle of ups, downs, and tranquil times in the spiritual life. There is no shame in the desolations (times of spiritual lows); all the great saints speak of it. At times, we can even grow more in desolation than in times of consolation (spiritually high moments). But discernment during both of those times is crucial to our growth.

I just finished a class with Fr. Timothy Gallagher on how to teach Ignatius of Loyola’s 14 Rules on the Discernment of Spirits. When we say spirits, what is Fr Gallagher speaking about and what rules is St Ignatius speaking about? By spirits he means mainly the enemy and his actions, ourselves and our thoughts and actions, or God and His helps.  There are 3 steps that help us in spiritual discernment with St Ignatius' 14 rules: 
 1) become aware, 2) understand to some extent the different movements caused in the soul and 3) to act to receive the good, and to reject the bad. 
These steps and the 14 rules help us discern the enemy’s tactics, understand how God is helping us, and understand our own temptations, failures, and growth. We all go through cycles of desolation, tranquil times, and consolations. We use the three steps above along with 14 rules that St. Ignatius has given to our Church in discernment to grow in the spiritual life toward God.
Here is a short summary of St Ignatius'14 rules for Spiritual discernment:

1. People going from mortal sin to mortal sin, the enemy proposes pleasures to them to lead them to imagine sensual delights so they grow in vice. God uses a contrary method, He stings and bites the conscience of moral judgement to help them draw away from vice.
2. People intensely purifying their sins rising from good to better: The enemy bites, saddens, and places obstacles, disquiets with false reasons, so the person may not go forward. God gives courage, strength, consolations, tears, inspirations and quiet, eases and takes away all obstacles to the person may go forward doing good.
3. Spiritual consolation: interior movement that causes inflamed love of God. An increase of hope, faith, and charity, and joy attracted to heavenly things, quieting it in peace in God.
4. Spiritual desolation: disturbance in the soul and movement to worldly things. Disquiet from agitations, temptations, lack of confidence, without hope, love, finds the self slothful and sad as if separated from God.
5. In times of desolation never make a change from decisions made when in consolation.
6. While in desolation, it is very advantageous to do more prayer, meditation, examination, and extending self in suitable ways of doing penance.
7. One in desolation should consider how the Lord has left him in his natural powers, what it feels like to have intense grace taken but leaving sufficient grace, and to realize he can resist enemies agitations and temptations in God’s sufficient grace.
8. Let one in desolation work in patience and think he will soon be consoled using rule 6.
9. Three causes of desolation: 1) tepid slothful or negligent in spiritual exercises 2) Trial to let us see how much we are and extend ourselves to His service and praise without payment, 3) Gives us true recognition and understanding that it is not ours to attain or maintain consolation but a gift of God.
10. One in consolation should think how he will conduct himself when desolation will come.
11. One who is consoled should seek to humble himself thinking how little he is capable of in time of desolation. One who is in desolation should think he can do much with God’s sufficient grace.
12. The enemy acts weak when faced with strength and strong when faced with weakness.
13. The enemy wishes his persuasions and temptations to you to remain secret and not be revealed wanting you to keep it to yourself. If a person reveals them to a good confessor it weighs on the enemy who perceives not to succeed since his deceit is revealed.
14. The enemy attacks you at your weakest points.  

Keep an eye on the bulletin for more information the Ignatian Discernment of Spirits Study coming in Fall 2026!