You may never have heard the name of Aleister Crowley, but you are certainly familiar with the one commandment of his religion "Thelema": "Do what you will." We see this "commandment" everywhere today, from how we approach religion to how we approach our daily lives. But Christ the King demands a different path: obedience to the life-giving commands of the Lord. Hear how we can overcome the legacy of Crowley through the authority and power of Christ the King!

How quickly does the glamour and pride of the world vanish! All the vanity, the riches, the fame of the world means nothing in light of eternity. This is a truth that should be pondered frequently by Christians: how the world as we know it is passing away.

Why do we build beautiful churches? Is it necessary since God is everywhere...and after all, shouldn't the Church be poor and simple? Ah, but beautiful Churches are important - they are a visual demonstration of our Faith, a foretaste of Heaven, and a powerful recognition that it houses God Almighty in the Holy Eucharist. Beautiful Churches glorify God, make incarnate our love for Him, and help us desire to be with Him!

November is the month dedicated to praying for all the holy souls in Purgatory. But what is Purgatory? Is it in the Bible? Why is it a great act of God's love? And how can we help the souls - and ourselves - with this difficult but graced time in the afterlife? All the questions you ever wanted to know about Purgatory!

All of us need friends. But the deepest kind of friendship, according to Aristotle, is the friendship of virtue - seeking holiness together. This means that our first and primary friendship must be with Jesus Christ, Who has already called us "friends"!

It is a great thing for God to perform a healing miracle for us. But it is an infinitely more important thing for God to heal our souls of sin, and give us spiritual health (aka holiness). Sometimes God will not do the physical miracle we want, because instead He wants to make us holy through our sufferings. Trust Him, whether we receive the gift we want or not, because He will always give us the graces we need.

"I love my faith," people say. But what to they mean by faith? Rituals and sentiment? The Catechism is clear on what faith means: believing in God, trusting His promises, and believing all He has revealed in Scripture and through His Church. All three are necessary if we are to have the saving faith that makes us pleasing to God!

Our media thrives on outrage. Most of it is silly, but outrage and anger are actually the proper responses to injustice in the world. Christians need to use healthy anger and outrage to motivate them both to prayer and to action.

Once Christ has changed our life, what is our response to the power of the Cross? Living the disciplines of discipleship - prayer, virtue, service and sacrifice, and offering our life to the Lord!

This feast celebrates when St. Helen discovered the Cross of Christ in the early 300s. But more than that, it celebrates all that Christ's Cross has done for us: paying back the debt we owed God but were unable to pay; showing us the depths of God's love for us; teaching us how to love; and giving meaning to our suffering and death. Blessed be the Holy Cross of Christ!

St. Paul discusses slavery in today's second reading. Although the Church has always officially been against slavery, sadly it is all too prevalent in today's world - both physical slavery and human trafficking, and also the spiritual slavery of addictions. How can we do our part to experience the freedom Christ has won for us, and help others do the same?

The virtue that God loves the most is humility, because it mirrors His own economy of salvation - a God Who humbled Himself to become man and die for us can only be received by people who are humble enough to accept Him. He continues to come to us in the Eucharist, a hidden humility to lift up the lowly!

We usually chafe at the idea of discipline, but it's vital to train well for the spiritual life. Due to Original Sin, we are not naturally inclined to love God - thus, we must be taught, through prayer and self-denial and generosity, how to learn to love. But this discipline is difficult, and many people choose not to engage in it - which is why Our Lord calls salvation "a narrow gate". We must not be afraid to train for the everlasting life to which we are called!

The spiritual life has, as its goal, union with God through grace. This union comes when we cooperate with God in purging our soul of sin, so that we can live like Him. This requires that we be a sign of contradiction to a world so often steeped in sin - but Jesus, the "inspirer and perfecter of our faith", has given us the strength to follow Him into everlasting life!

The Lord wants to give us incredible gifts, crowned with the gift of everlasting life. To prepare for such a gift, we have to give up anything that hinders His work in us. Do we even want to receive such a gift if it means giving up the things of this world?

Can a Christian desire to be rich? Let's take a look at a little-known, extremely wealthy saint to see how his riches were his pathway to Heaven, and not an obstacle!

The Our Father is the very cornerstone of how to pray. Taught to us by God Himself, it sums up our relationship with Him. Dive into the words of the Lord's Prayer to find out what it means, and how to pray it well!

Christ came to save souls. But He allows us to participate in that amazing mission, through His grace and mercy - and eternal souls are truly dependent upon our faithfulness to Christ. Tune in to find the three ways we are called to cooperate with God in saving souls.

Any reputable historian can tell you that the Catholic Church has been the most influential organization in shaping Western Civilization. Much of what is good about our modern world has its roots in our Catholic Faith. Today, we discuss four ways in which the Catholic Church has changed the world!

Our faith is full of mysteries - the Trinity, the Cross, predestination vs. free will, the Eucharist, the problem of evil. But is "mystery" just a cop-out - a code word for "stop asking questions"? No! Mystery is necessary in faith because we worship a God who is infinite and unlimited, while our human minds are very finite and limited. Just as we cannot fit the ocean into a bucket, so we cannot fully comprehend the ways of God in our small minds. But this does not mean we should cease trying - let us always contemplate with love the mysteries of God, that we may discover His glories for eternity!