Fr. James Smith

I SWITCHED. 📱✝️ Recently moved my line to @iCatholicMobile — America’s ONLY Catholic wireless provider. You can help this organization build up the Body of Christ. A share of every bill goes to Catholic media, pro-life work, priests, and religious orders. Not the usual corporate causes/DEI awfulness. David was extraordinarily helpful and we completed the whole move in less than an hour. They provide excellent service on the Gulf Coast. Please, my Catholic brothers and sisters, give them earnest (and prayed over) consideration. They are small, but growing company. 🏙️📊🤲🏻 icatholicmobile.com #Catholic #iCatholicMobile #ProLife #Stewardship 🙏🏻 #カトリック #信仰 #プロライフ #携帯

I don't listen to this show too often, but this episode was particularly interesting🎬 It's ostensibly about Primetime and “To Catch a Predator.” What stuck with me was how one side gets to control the public discourse. I'm seeing that play out consistently with the objections being raised about certain very famous politicians. The L*ft’s ability to manipulate choice rhetoric – down to a very consistent and popular set of buzzwords – deserves more attention. 🇺🇸 It’s fascinating how thoughtless people are about the ways they approach deeply nuanced issues and judge others. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas… (Usually I post a platform-agnostic link, but in this case it seems paywalled. Sry) #Populism #Primetime #ToCatchAPredator #ポッドキャスト #カトリック

Homily Recap | All Souls’ Day 2026 “In the Hand of God” Every one of us carries the memory of someone we have lost: a parent, a spouse, a relative, or a dear friend. On All Souls’ Day, the Church remembers our beloved departed and reminds us that love does not end at the grave. In today's homily, I reflected on the communion we share as members of Christ's Church. Yesterday, on All Saints’ Day, we celebrated the Church Triumphant: those already enjoying the glory of Heaven. Today, we remember the Church Suffering: those undergoing purification in Purgatory. And we, the Church Militant, continue our earthly pilgrimage toward eternal life. Purgatory is not a second chance after death, nor is it a lesser version of hell. It is God's mercy completing the work of purification in souls destined for Heaven. Even when our sins have been forgiven, attachments and imperfections may remain. God's transforming love removes whatever prevents us from entering fully into His presence. This is a message of tremendous hope! Our confidence rests not in our own perfection, but in the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ. As Scripture reminds us, “The souls of the just are in the hand of God” (Wisdom 3:1). Yet we must resist the temptation to assume automatically that our deceased loved ones are already in Heaven. We certainly hope they are! But presuming their heavenly glory can lead us to neglect one of the greatest acts of charity we can offer them: our prayers. Have Masses offered for the deceased. Pray a Rosary for them. Visit their graves and commend their souls to God's mercy. These are meaningful expressions of Christian love that continue beyond death. All Souls’ Day also challenges us to consider our own spiritual lives. The time for conversion is now, not at the moment of death. Every sincere Confession, every act of charity, every sacrifice patiently endured, and every sin surrendered to God's grace prepares us for eternal life. Finally, I emphasized the extraordinary importance of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. At the altar, Christ's saving sacrifice is offered for both the living and the dead. When we pray for those who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection, we entrust them to the mercy of the One who conquered death itself. My central message was simple: Pray faithfully for the dead, and live faithfully so that, by God's grace, we may one day be reunited with them in Heaven. As St. Paul reminds us, “Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's” (Romans 14:8). Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen. #AllSoulsDay #HomilyRecap #Purgatory #PrayForTheDead #CatholicFaith #ProChristus

ALL SAINTS' DAY Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of All Saints, honoring all the holy men and women who, having received the grace of God, have gone before us into the glory of Heaven. The celebration has ancient roots, reaching back at least to the fourth century, when Christians in the East commemorated all the martyrs. Historically, this feast was also known as All Hallows’ Day, from which we derive the familiar name Halloween—a contraction of All Hallows’ Evening. What exactly is the Communion of Saints? The Church is not simply an earthly institution. She is a communion of persons united in Jesus Christ, extending beyond the boundaries of earthly life. Traditionally, we distinguish three states of the Church: The Church Militant: The faithful still living on earth, struggling against sin and striving for holiness. The Church Suffering: The souls in Purgatory, undergoing purification in preparation for the fullness of heavenly glory. The Church Triumphant: The saints in Heaven, who have reached their eternal homeland and enjoy communion with God. These are not three separate Churches, but one Church united in Christ. As the Catechism teaches, there exists a profound bond of charity between those already in Heaven, those undergoing purification, and those still journeying on earth (CCC 1474). Through this communion, the members of Christ's Mystical Body assist one another by their prayers and spiritual merits. At the center of this communion is Jesus Christ, whose Passion and Death are the inexhaustible source of our salvation. Why do Catholics honor and pray to the saints? The saints are not competitors with Christ. Rather, their holiness and intercession are entirely dependent upon Him. Because those in Heaven are more closely united to Christ, they are powerful intercessors for us who continue our earthly pilgrimage. Their lives provide examples of Christian virtue and encouragement in our own struggles. As St. Thérèse of Lisieux famously said: “I want to spend my heaven doing good on earth.” We also remember that the word saint originally had a broader meaning in Christian usage. In the early Church, the baptized faithful could be called saints because they had been made holy through Christ. The great multitude described in today's first reading from Revelation reminds us of the immense community of those belonging to God. The Beatitudes: Our own calling to holiness Today's Gospel presents the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1–12). These teachings describe the ideals of Christian discipleship and a new way of living grounded in mercy, humility, spiritual poverty, and love. They invite us to examine our own lives. Are we poor in spirit, recognizing our dependence upon God? Do we mourn injustice and suffering? Are we humble of heart, seeking God's will above our own? Do we show mercy to others, strive for purity of heart, work for peace, and remain courageous when fidelity to Christ brings suffering or opposition? Holiness is not reserved for a select group of extraordinary individuals. It is the vocation of every Christian. As today's Preface reminds us, we hasten toward our heavenly homeland as pilgrims advancing by faith, encouraged by the example and intercession of those who have gone before us. On this Solemnity of All Saints, we give thanks for the countless holy men and women who now enjoy eternal life with God. We ask for their prayers, imitate their virtues, and renew our determination to follow Christ faithfully. The question each of us must ultimately answer is this: How will I become a saint? #AllSaintsDay #CommunionOfSaints #CatholicChurch #HomilyRecap

Finished this one from @TuckerCarlson. Great episode. 🇺🇸 Tbh I'm constantly struck by how articulate Tucker is. Agree with him or not, his command of English is something else. The man thinks in full paragraphs I read a bunch of Dick Marcinko's books in my early teens, and they blew me away. I didn't realize how much more there was to his story. I’m sure they influenced my interest in the military. youtube.com/watch?v=DU7uGxCa… #NavySEALs #TuckerCarlson #Military #History

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Bingo. The “cost” that few see…

This’ll be another unwanted take, but one that I think’s important: Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration ☀️ I just received notice of another parish can't fill its overnight adoration hours. I'm not surprised. 📩 Perpetual adoration in the parish, staffed by laypeople off a sign-up sheet, is mostly a post-1981 thing. Before that, round-the-clock exposition belonged to religious communities. Even the Church's own 1973 ritual assigns perpetual exposition to religious communities and pious associations — not to your average parish. Eastern rites don’t have exposition except in rare Latinizing cases So why did it take off? Tbh, I think reverence went out of the liturgy after the Council, and people went looking for it somewhere. They found it kneeling in front of the Monstrance. Adoration is good. But it's a devotion. It flows FROM the Mass and points back TO it. It is not the Sacrifice. And “every parish perpetual Adoration” is just not something common in Roman Catholic life, even if some places observed it. So we stacked round-the-clock schedules on top of parishes that struggle to fill the pews on Sunday, and now we're surprised when the 3 a.m. slot sits empty. Why are we asking people to keep watch all night when we never gave them back the reverence at the *altar* on Sunday morning? We should start there. #Catholic #EucharisticAdoration #Liturgy #HolyMass

$27 (tip incl.) for the freshest cut of my life ✂️🔥 . Clean lines, sharp fade #FreshCut #Haircut #NewLook #ヘアカット #髪型 #カット