John H. Hampsch, C.M.F. Think for a moment of one of your loved ones who has passed away some time ago, and recall the grief you experienced at the funeral. Give yourself a “numerical” score for your grief at that time, on a scale of 1 to 100. Now think about the death of a [...]

The next time you feel that GOD can’t use you, just remember: Noah was a drunk Abraham was too old Isaac was a daydreamer Jacob was a liar Leah was ugly Joseph was abused Moses had a stuttering problem Gideon as afraid Samson had long hair and was a womanizer Rahab was a prostitute Jeremiah [...]

The third-century bishop and martyr, St. Felix of Nola, trying to escape his persecutors, hid in a cave. Immediately a spider wove its gossamer web across the small opening, giving the appearance to his prying pursuers that the cave had not been recently occupied. When the saintly bishop later stepped out into the sunlight, he [...]

A telephone was installed in the White House in 1870, but not on the president’s desk. For fifty-one years, the presidents of the most advanced country in the world had to go out into the hall to use the single White House phone. The can opener was invented half a century after the tin can [...]

St. Alphonsus Liguori was known for his unconventional statements. He once remarked, “In building, we need not act as worldly people do. They first procure money, and then proceed to build. But we do the opposite. We begin to build and then as we go along we trust divine Providence to provide what is necessary.” [...]

   In a town where gambling was illegal, two judges were arrested for violating that ordinance. They each agreed to preside at the other’s trial. The first judge found his confrere guilty and gave him a fine of $100. Then they exchanged places as judge and defendant. The second judge also declared the other one [...]

  A woman asked her friend how she could stay so calm in the midst of heavy pressures in her nerve-racking job. The answer was as simple as it was profound: ”I’m too blessed to be stressed.” The Age of Anxiety. That’s the label often attached to the turbulent, war-ravaged, terrorist-threatened time in which we live [...]

I think it was Confucius who said, “Happiness does not consist in having what you want, but in wanting what you have.” One frequent cause of disappointment, especially in our prayers of petition, is that God does not give us what we want, but what we need. “Your heavenly Father knows that you need all [...]

An aspiring composer asked orchestra, conductor Victor Herbert to review and play one of his amateur compositions. Seeing that it lacked merit, Herbert turned it down. Miffed, the composer retorted sardonically, “I thought you encouraged home talent.” “I do,” rejoined Herbert, “but some home talent I encourage to stay at home.” Life would be heavenly [...]

A quaint and ancient Welsh proverb states, “Three things give hardy strength: sleeping on hairy mattresses, breathing cold air, and eating dry food.” Today, in our more knowledgeable age, adherence to that proverb would have very few devotees; we would find a more convincing source of “hardy strength” in a daily workout at the local [...]