Carol Ann Chybowski

Treasures In Heaven

Recently I spoke with a friend about spiritual matters, and one of the concepts we discussed was simplicity. Simplicity in thought, word and deed, as well as simplicity in lifestyle.

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Which is Preferable: Mercy or Perfection?

In one Gospel, the Pharisees challenge Jesus because he has allowed his disciples to pick grain from the fields as they pass through. The investigator in me really wants to know where they were going on the Sabbath, and what they were talking about just before this exchange... Were Jesus and his disciples on their wat somewhere to celebrate the Sabbath and the Pharisees interrupted his teaching?

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Patron Saints: Friends and Companions In All our Activities

I don’t know about you, but I love sports. I’m not as good at them as I used to be, but that doesn’t stop me from trying something new. And I do like to watch my favorite sports on television, With the Rio Olympics nearly upon us, I’ve been trying to figure out how to watch my favorite sports.

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The Old The New And The Flexible

I’ve always found the Gospel reading of Matthew 9: 14-17 difficult to understand. It felt as though Jesus was light years ahead of John’s disciples, and even his own for that matter. Then some thoughtful soul explained that, no, you really can’t fast in the middle of a feast. It’s rude for one thing, an insult to your host.

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What is True Freedom?

The Fourth of July always seems to make people stop and reflect on the core values of our culture. One of these values is freedom. We talk about political freedom, religious freedom, and economic freedom. Listen or read any type of media these days and we need more of every conceivable kind. But what do we really mean by freedom?

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Grow With Good News Ministries

I remember back in the early days of my desire to grow in love of God and in knowledge of His word. One of the first steps I took was reading the daily Mass readings that were listed in the parish bulletin (I could not attend daily Mass at that time because of my work and caregiving schedule).

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Spring Cleaning for the Heart

Spring is here! Okay, technically it’s been here for a while, if you believe the calendar. And the seed catalogues-my favorite wish books. But the best part of this time of the year is that it is also springtime for the heart.

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Celebrate God's Power

I don’t know about you, but I have always loved the beginning of Psalm 98 (vs 1-4)-it makes my heart sing for joy. All the ends of the Earth have in fact seen the saving power of God. We remembered this again just a short while ago; when God’s saving power came in the form of a small, helpless infant.

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Celebrate Epiphany!

The Feast of the Epiphany is upon us and with it the end of the great Octave of Christmas. We have waited and prayed through Advent, preparing ourselves for the coming of our Lord at Christmas.

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Should Catholics Use Centering Prayer?

In her book, Is Centering Prayer Catholic?, author Connie Rossini takes a deeper look at the controversy surrounding a prayer technique commonly called Centering Prayer. The controversy flows from what the definition of true contemplative prayer is, and what the real purpose of such prayer.

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An Attitude of Prayer

One of the hardest things we do as Christians is to carry our faith out of our churches and out of our homes and into the ordinary, mundane events that make up daily life. Ordinary, mundane, and in our modern world, often irritating, frustrating events that can make us lose our cool.

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The Art of Praying

In his book, The Art of Praying, Romano Guardini explains in wonderful detail how to go about the act of prayer, and the vital importance of understanding all of its aspects, from preparation of time, place and self, to the actual prayer. So many times we rely on the basic training of our childhood: we kneel and fold our hands and find that nothing comes as easily as it once did.

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Going Deeper Into Prayer

I learned a lot from the course I took on the writings of St. Teresa of Avila from the School of Spiritual Formation at the Avila Institute online. Previously I shared one of the insights I received on the deep meaning of the Lord’s Prayer. Today I’d like to share a little bit of what I learned about prayer.

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A Gospel Riddle

The stories of Jesus and His disciples in John’s Gospel are some of my favorites, likely because I enjoy a good riddle. In verbal play, the surface meaning is generally not the only intended meaning. This double meaning is what makes the joke funny. It also provides further proof for my personal pet theory that the shortest Gospel readings pack the biggest punches,

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Create A Clean Heart In Me

Have you ever felt like King David in Psalm 51? Here is a man who seems to have it all, to be a smashing success. The rags to riches story of a shepherd boy turned king we usually only see in movies. He lives in a palace, like the bigger house we all seem to want. He is wealthy and admired. All these things are attractive to us too, and seem so desirable.

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