Elizabeth Hoyle

Special kinds of love: clarifying common misconceptions about Catholic devotions

“Why do Catholics love and worship Mary?” “Why does the Church love the saints?” “Aren’t we supposed to love God and God alone?” Nearly every Catholic encounters questions like these at some point in their lives.

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Three suggestions for a deeper Advent

A change in the liturgical season is a perfect opportunity to change something in how we live our faith. Are there certain prayers we should say more often? Is there a particular saint we feel drawn to learn more about?

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Prayer and mental illness

Ever since receiving the diagnosis of mild-moderate depression and anxiety halfway through college, I’ve taken notice whenever I see articles about dealing with mental illness in a prayerful, faithful way. And while there are multiple articles about living as a Catholic with a mental illness, I’ve not seen many that discuss prayer when you have a mental illness.

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Art, faith, and sin

A few months ago, I was on jury duty and witnessed an interesting idea of what Christianity is and how faith and art relate to one another. One of my fellow jurors was an older lady who made it quite clear to us from the beginning of our service that she didn’t want to hear any foul language from us because she is a Christian.

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The significance of the name Barabbas

As Catholics, we know that names are important. We name our parishes, our schools, and our children after saints and notable figures from the bible. The significance of names is not strictly a Catholic thing, however. The ancient Jews and the Jews of Jesus’ day understood the importance of names.

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The Temptation To Compare: A Lie From The Beginning

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like comparison is a huge temptation these days. I know it is for me. By comparison, I’m talking about the tendency to look at someone else’s life or gifts and feel sad, upset, or even to fall into despair that you do not have the same kinds of gifts or talents that that someone has.

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Three insights the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts give us

The apparitions of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts of Jesus and Mary are arguably two of the most important theological developments in the past 400 years. The apparitions of the Sacred Heart are indelibly tied to the image of Divine Mercy. The Immaculate Heart of Mary was a major part of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima.

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Lessons from the ladies of Luke 8:40-56

There are many stories about women in the Bible. Eve, Rahab, Ruth, Esther, Jael, Elizabeth, Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Martha all have amazing, inspiring stories as to how God transformed their lives and used them to further establish his kingdom here on Earth. And that’s just naming a few

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Facing up

It has always been difficult, for me anyway, to decide if I’m going to face the priest in the confessional or not. For quite a while I didn’t have a choice since the church I went to didn’t have very many screened confessionals. Even when forced to sit in front of the priest, I didn’t look him in the eye as I confessed my sins and was given my penance.

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Why do people love St. Thérèse?

I recently began reading 33 Days to Merciful Love, a book that focuses on and explains St. Thérèse’s consecration to God’s merciful love. I didn’t know much about Saint Thérèse until a few years ago. Since then she and I have grown to be good friends, but she’s always been in my life.

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What I wish I knew before I decided to study theology

When I made the decision to study theology in addition to English in college, I had no idea I was embarking on a faith journey as well as an academic one. But that’s how it is with Catholicism: ours is a faith of both the head and the heart. Learning is supposed to enhance our faith and vice versa.

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Saint stalkers and what to do about them

Maybe their names keep coming up in conversations about the faith. Maybe pictures of them, with quotes from their written works have been lighting up your social media feeds. Maybe your pastor mentions them in the homily or maybe you suddenly have the desire to learn more about them.

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Set your table: A reflection for the offertory

I don’t know about you, but it has always been difficult for me to focus during the offertory when I’m at Mass. Between the homily ending and the Eucharistic prayer beginning, it is incredibly tough for me to concentrate on what is taking place, since up to this point, I’ve been so focused on the readings and the homily.

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