First, by devotion to the truth. Note: not just an interest in the truth but a desire to conform ourselves to it; not just to know but to respond to the truth. After all, the hypocrite himself might be able to recite profound truths. But he doesn’t conform himself to them. Saint James warns us not to be the kind of person who finds the truth interesting but not determinative: [B]e doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who observes his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But he who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts, he shall be blessed in his doing. (Jas 1:22-25) Or, as Venerable Fulton Sheen put it, “If you don’t behave as you believe, you will end by believing as you behave.”
"At the same time, many families are re-discovering shared meal times, learning, hiking, playing and praying together. And make no mistake this is an opportunity for parents to help kids cultivate something they will desperately need for the rest of their lives, especially in a culture like ours: resilience. A resume of happy childhood experiences isn’t necessarily the best way to cultivate that. This moment God has determined for us is challenging and chaotic. But He also determined us for this moment. And He’s with us. This is no lost year.
These observations apply to Catholics, and I would argue we have a bigger problem. Only 30% of Catholics attend Mass on Sundays. Less than half of Catholics believe the Eucharist is the True body and blood of Jesus Christ. Many Catholics reject the Church's authority in the areas of faith and morals. All of these are REQUIREMENTS of the faith.
"Despite the disrespect and humiliation he received from some of his superiors, as his trenchant writing makes clear, Paul never compromised the Catholic Faith. And his orthodoxy and zeal stiffened the spines of many priests, including mine. In God’s providence, that also was part of his mission in life. Paul was a humble and fierce soldier for Christ, a true son of Saint Ignatius. His mission is now complete and he returns to the hands of the Father. As we pray for the happy repose of his soul, we now have the privilege of emulating his faith and leadership in the service of the Word.
"The Evil One is at work here. To take something as beautiful and holy as the face of Our Mother and desecrate it? What demons those poor, battered souls must be fighting. In the midst of all our troubles, to be deprived of the Eucharist is both a serious imposition on our rights as Americans and a serious spiritual deprivation."
"Can we have the discussion? A great part of the problem of poverty in our time is that millions of boys, many of them fatherless, are not ready at age eighteen either for college or a trade. Yet I suspect that there is ample untapped demand for the tradesman’s labor. Of course, to learn a trade well you need some virtues that we neglect or scorn: submission to a master, diligence, self-denial, the keeping of promises, and patience. You will not learn these virtues in our schools. You will certainly not learn them from mass entertainment or politics."
"The Rosary is the key to overcoming racism in America. The Rosary is likewise integral to cultivating African-American vocations, and numbering Black American Catholics among the saints. Let us seize this Dominican moment in history by renewing our resolve to pray the Rosary, specifically for racial reconciliation."