After our first Forum Friday, the Catholicism Forum saw an increase in traffic, but most people are still just looking rather than posting. One reader who stepped up to the plate on his first time in the forum was "ytb," who offered an interesting report on the Men of Christ Conference last weekend in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Check it out, and if you attended the conference (or have attended a similar conference elsewhere in the country), tell us about it in the forum!

Be sure to catch up on all the conversations in the forum, especially "Holy Days," in which longtime forum participant "Ave Maria Gratia Plena" provides a perfect response to some mistaken ideas of a born-again Christian regarding the Church and Jewish festivals.

And don't be shy--if you have a question you'd like to ask or something you'd like to share, start a new thread in the forum. You'll have to be a member to post a new thread (or to respond to one), but it takes just a minute to sign up.

In the comments on "Wordless Wednesday: The Flight Into Egypt," Charles Hodges writes:

What I would like to know is, who took care of Joseph’s former children (whose mother died) when they left Judea for Egypt, and when were they picked up again to live with Joseph, Mary and Jesus?

This question will likely surprise most readers, but it's not as shocking as it may at first appear. Read more...

(Photo © Slava Gallery, LLC; used with permission.)

Wordless Wednesday on About.com

More Wordless Wednesday

If the rosary is the most distinctive form of prayer in the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, the novena may be a close second. A series of prayers to be said over nine straight days, the novena calls to mind the nine days that the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary spent in prayer between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost Sunday.

There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of novenas, many of which are prayed for individual intentions (such as the Novena to St. Anthony to Find a Lost Article), while others, such as the Divine Mercy Novena, have become a part of the liturgical life of the Church.

Each week, I'll highlight a different novena. Read more...