In the Know with Fr Joe

What do you do when you feel distracted at Mass, whether from problems you're having, children around you, the music, etc.?

Father Joe Black discusses whether thinking evil thoughts is a sin.

Father Joe Black explains why Jesus did not remain on earth after his resurrection.

Father Joe explains why prayer and self-reflection is the answer to our world's violence.

Father Joe Black explores the differences and reasons why there are more than one version of the Ten Commandments.

A mother says she loves her children and husband but feels guilty because she is tired of always trying to get them to school and work on time.

Remember that the desire to be reverent at Mass is holy. That's your gift to God.

Hope really is the key. By hope, I don’t mean optimism. I mean the virtue of hope.

The foundation of the answer is in remembering that God is your judge. Humans look at you and see what you are doing. God looks at you and sees it all: your intention, your desire, your struggles.

Your struggle is the struggle that saints have. People who don't care whether they sin or don’t even call sin “sin” are not in this fight. Saints are.

The first thing we need to recognize is that, at its core, our faith is entirely about knowing, loving, and following Jesus.

This is not something we can do on our own. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to guide us, strengthen us, and give us everything necessary to do what we are commanded by God to do.

Your question reflects a heart of love, and I am so grateful for it.

As we explore our faith and try to grow into it, we will find passionate, articulate people who try to bring us to agreement with their viewpoint.

I get lots of questions from parishioners about the wider Church’s fundraising efforts, specifically the once-a-year effort that, in the Portland Diocese, is called the Catholic Appeal.

The madness of our present age can be scary and worrisome, but I would love for us to think about it as an invitation for each and every person reading this to think about racism and Christianity.

Let’s start by looking at some of the words for love that we see in the Bible. This is not an exhaustive list, but it captures the main ones.

Dear Father Joe: I’ve read a lot of talk online that, according to a recent study, most Catholics don’t understand Church teaching about the Eucharist or don’t believe in it.