Fr. Scott Haynes From a distance the fig tree looked alive. Its leaves were full and green. Anyone walking toward it would expect fruit. But when Christ came near, He found nothing. That is one of the most frightening images in the Gospel. A soul can look healthy outwardly while inwardly becoming empty. One can still attend Mass, say prayers, speak about religion, and appear respectable, yet secretly lose the life of grace within. The Gospel says the tree withered “from the r

Fr. Scott Haynes “Be you also as living stones built up, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5) Saint Peter calls us “living stones,” not dead stones scattered upon the ground, but stones joined together in Christ, chosen for a temple that breathes with prayer, sacrifice, and love. A single stone alone seems small and unnoticed, yet placed in the hands of the Divine Builder it becomes part of s

God gives us gifts. But do we open them and make good use of them?

Fr. Scott Haynes On the fiftieth day after the Resurrection of Christ, the promise of the Holy Ghost descended upon the Church in a scene unparalleled in majesty and power. While Sacred Scripture recounts this moment in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:1-4), Venerable Mary of Agreda, a 17th-century Franciscan nun, was graced with detailed private revelations recorded in her monumental mystical work, The Mystical City of God. Her account not only magnifies the awe and wonder o

The Octave of Pentecost, as preserved in the traditional Missale Romanum, stands as a radiant crown upon the great Solemnity of Pentecost.

Fr. Scott Haynes A Meditation on John 3:34 “For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.” A grandfather sat in his chair by the window as the late afternoon light poured across the room. His two grandchildren were with him. One was lively, always laughing, always moving—darting from one thing to the next, chasing whatever caught his eye. The other sat closer, drawn not so much to activity as to presence. He liked to liste

Learn about the Jews who became Christian in the first century who lived in Pella.

Fr. Scott Haynes Everyone remembers the terrible scene: the Roman governor standing before the crowd, water poured over his hands, while the cry rises from the pavement of Jerusalem: “Crucify him.” Pontius Pilate tried to wash himself clean of a judgment he knew was unjust. Yet the water did not free him. The sentence remained. The Cross was raised. The sky darkened. The earth trembled. The veil of the Temple was torn. The centurion, who had seen men die before, looked upon t

Fr. Scott Haynes A Meditation for the Sunday after the Ascension World Communications Sunday During the English Reformation, a priest of the Church of England, Edmund Campion, reached great importance in the Anglican Church. When he took the Oath of Supremacy in 1564, he rejected his Catholic faith, the role of Supreme Pontiff to govern the Church, and embraced the Church of England headed by Queen Elizabeth I. For twelve years, he was away from communion with the Catholic Ch

The feast of the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ, traditionally celebrated forty days after Easter, marks a glorious culmination of the Paschal Mystery.

Fr. Scott Haynes In the traditional Latin Mass, the Sanctus candle is lit at the Sanctus or just before the Canon of the Mass to signify that the most sacred moment of the Holy Sacrifice is beginning. It is a small practice, but one filled with theological and symbolic meaning. The candle serves first as a sign of reverence toward the Real Presence of Christ soon to become sacramentally present upon the altar. From the Sanctus onward, the liturgy enters into the solemn heart

Fr. Scott Haynes Processions, Prayer, and the Blessing of the Fields There was once a time when entire Catholic villages processed through muddy roads beneath dark spring clouds carrying crucifixes, banners, relics, and candles while chanting the Litany of the Saints. Priests in violet vestments walked before the people. Church bells sounded across the countryside. Farmers knelt beside newly planted fields. Children scattered flower petals. The faithful prayed not merely for

"For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass."

Fr. Scott Haynes Throughout the pages of Sacred Scripture, we encounter men and women who did not rush blindly into conflict, nor trust in strength of arms alone, but first bowed their heads before God. Before the clash of swords, there was the silence of prayer. Before victory, there was surrender. These figures reveal a profound truth that runs like a golden thread through salvation history: the true battlefield is first within the soul, and triumph begins not with human st

Fr. Scott Haynes The Daniel Fast is a form of prayerful fasting inspired by the prophet Daniel, especially by two passages in the Book of Daniel. It is not merely a diet, nor is it simply a health program dressed in religious language. At its heart, the Daniel Fast is a way of saying to God: “Lord, I want my hunger to become prayer. I want my body, my mind, and my desires to be turned toward You.” The first inspiration comes from Daniel’s youth in Babylon. He and his compani

Bear in mind that “the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God” (Jas 1:20).

Fr. Scott A. Haynes A Meditation on John 16:5-14 In that time: But I told you not these things from the beginning, because I was with you. And now I go to him that sent me, and none of you asketh me: Whither goest thou? But because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow hath filled your heart. But I tell you the truth: it is expedient to you that I go: for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he is come, he will con

Fr. Scott Haynes An Exhortation on 1 Peter 2:16 Charles-François Poerson (1653-1725), “Saint Peter Preaching in Jerusalem” Saint Peter gives us a warning that is as searching as it is simple: “As free, and not as making liberty a cloak for malice, but as the servants of God.”¹ He does not deny that Christians are free. On the contrary, he insists upon it. We are no longer slaves of sin, no longer chained to the old life, and no longer bound to the tyranny of every passion, re

Fr. Scott Haynes Meditation on John 16:16–22 "A little while and you will see me no longer; and again a little while and you will see me." (John 16:16) Fr. Scott Haynes Meditation on John 16:16–22 "A little while and you will see me no longer; and again a little while and you will see me." (John 16:16) In these mysterious words spoken at the Last Supper, Christ prepared His disciples for the Passion and Resurrection. He hinted at the impending sorrow that would befall them, y

Sometimes God allows His work to be tested precisely so that its divine strength may be revealed.