As we wind up the summer break, we find ourselves in that time of year where we get back into the routines of life. But it is crucially important that in all the busyness of life that we do not neglect our spiritual life.  Just like we need to take time to go over our personal or family calendar and plan our days and weeks to stay on top of life, we should also take the time to establish a rule of life that governs and keeps on track our spiritual life.

The Diocese of Colorado Springs Mental Health Ministry, led by Deacon Mike McGrady of the  Office of Marriage and Family Life, hosted its second annual conference on May 16 at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Colorado Springs. Dr. Staci Webb of Divine Mercy University and the Saint Raphael Center in the Archdiocese of Denver spoke on “The Psychology of Integration: A Holistic View of the Human Person.”

What makes these communities strong is not their size or their wealth. It is the trust people place in each other, a shared sense of what is owed to a neighbor, and a willingness to show up when someone is in need without waiting to be asked. — Andy Barton

As a young priest serving a parish, Norbertine Father Sebastian Walshe initiated monthly “ask anything” sessions. One question popped up again and again: “How, after 12 years of Catholic schools, could my child elect to no longer practice the Catholic faith?” According to Pew Research Center data, the vast majority of Americans who leave their childhood religion do so before the age of 30, and Catholicism experiences the highest rate of attrition among major religious groups in the U.S.; for every one person who joins the Catholic Church, eight people leave it.