"Where is the line between praying to “go unnoticed” and really wanting not to feel invisible or forgotten about?”

This question was asked by a member of our Integrated Life community during a Live I once hosted in which we were talking about humility. Her question related specifically to the line in the Litany of Humility in which we pray “that others may be praised and I go unnoticed.” It's an important question, but a tough one to answer!

Maybe you...

It's easy to fall into thinking in “once/then” terms when it comes to holiness. 

This kind of thinking can sound like "Once I figure out my vocation, then I can really pursue sanctity!" or "Once I get married, then I’ll get serious about my faith." or "Once the kids get older, then I’ll start praying more regularly." 

Thinking in this way reveals an underlying belief in an insidious lie though. The lie tells us that until our life circumstances...

What do you think of when you consider who "you" are? Do you feel like you are a spiritual being, living in a body but separate from it? 

While it's true that there is a difference between the material and immaterial part of who we are, that difference is not total. 

Existing as a union of body and spirit, material and immaterial, humans stand alone in all of creation as the only beings created this way! 

Our bodies are not something we have, but something we ...

A quick Google search on “Catholic guilt” results in all sorts of interesting (and many distasteful) articles and cartoons. 

Despite the fact this is largely unscientific data, I’d say it’s accurate to conclude that most people do not consider Catholic guilt a positive thing!

In one (crass) article highlighting the differences between Jewish and Catholic guilt, the writer quipped “The Jews set aside one day each year to atone for their sins. It’s...

Written by Sean Faulkner, IDDM Training Director

Think for a minute about what you are striving for in life. What is it that drives you to work really hard? What’s the narrative that runs through your mind when feeling this drive to accomplish things?

Many of us are trapped in a false narrative, trying desperately to earn what we can’t, despite the reality that we don’t actually have to. Why? Because - unbeknownst to us - we already have it. 

What the heck am I talking...

~This is a post written by guest blogger Sean Faulkner, LPC, a CatholicPsych Institute psychotherapist. 

There are many ways that we try to define ourselves. We so often seek to determine our identity based on what we do, what we like, our vices, our personality type, our relationship status, our illnesses, and the list goes on. 

But are we really just “the attorney” or “the foodie,” “the addict,” "the schizophrenic," or “the...

*This article was written in response the 2015 Synod on the Family. 

Following the Synod on the Family, I’m really disappointed by how quickly the Catholic media went the way of the secular media and amplified the polarization between the two – a polarization that only feeds page clicks for advertising revenue-driven blog sites and not much more. My blog does not exist for page-clicks, and so even if no one reads this, I’d like to contribute (in my opinion)...

Cardinal Dolan has certainly been taking a beating lately with the issues of Fulton Sheen and the St. Patrick’s Day parade at the same time. In his response to the criticisms he has received for accepting the position of Grand Marshal for the parade, he voiced how much of a beating he has been taking, and I’m sure it’s not easy to be dealing with what he is going through as a public figure and leader in the Church. As one of his flock in the Archdiocese of New...