The Barefoot Journey Home

As many of you might be aware, last Sunday was Good Shepard Sunday, which is also known as Vocation Sunday. This day was instituted in 1964 by Pope Paul VI as a day to pray in particular for an increase in vocations, especially to the Priesthood and Religious Life.  Fittingly, many Catholic institutions shared posts on their social media pages to promote vocations to their congregation. I came across more than a few posts from the religious orders, encouraging young people to consider if God might be calling them to live the Gospel by their way of life. There were also posts about how one should go about discerning his or her call to a particular vocation, but one particular post stood out to me. This post was about what a vocation is and is not, and I must admit that I was rather bemused by the very first point made in the post; Vocation is NOT an Urgent Matter .  What I'm about to write in today's post might not sit well with some of you, and I'm not saying that I'm o

Among all the clichè sayings that the human race in this day and age has grown accustomed to, there are many which Catholics ought not to be saying at all. If there is one clichè saying that annoys me more than any other, especially when used by a Catholic, this is it: "Heaven Has Gained Another Angel" .  Of course, it is understandable why many of us use this clichè. It is often used at the passing of a loved one, and these words do bring some form of comfort to those who mourn. However, for those who are well catechised, we should know that this clichè is completely out of line with our Catholic theology. It is a downright lie that we tell our grieving friends, which honestly could do more harm than good, and I think that we need to know why we should stop using it.  First of all, we need to understand that Angels are beings that do not share the same nature as Humans. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Angels are spiritual creatures who glorify God without