Mercy is an Act of Faith

Yesterday was the Feast of Divine Mercy. It is a devotion of special significance to me. The Mercy of God has been the focal point of my spiritual life since it truly began. At the services yesterday, the priest preached…

The Inconstant Soul

As we are in the midst of Holy Week there are many momentous things upon which we can reflect. Something that is striking me is the theme of inconsistency. We can constantly see throughout the Gospels that the disciples run…

The Prodigal Brothers

I think that most of us are familiar with the Prodigal Son parable. It is one of the longest and most memorable of all of Jesus’ stories. It is filled with vivid detail and heartfelt emotion. And yet, as many…

I Have Held the Grail

I love the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In that story, our hero has to save his father and find something I had not heard of until I saw the movie as a child: the Holy Grail. The…

Lent: Spiritual Boot Camp

This Wednesday we are going to being the holy season of Lent. I often equate Lent to spiritual boot camp. I love the Rocky movies. They have provided me with years of continual uplift and entertainment. These movies are almost…

Courage and Conviction

“I have loved justice and hated iniquity. Therefore, I die in exile.” These were some of the last recorded words of Pope St. Gregory VII. He was one of the great reformer popes you stood up to the corruption that…

Loving Your Enemies in the Internet Age

“Love your enemies,” is one of the most shocking and important moral precepts that Christ gave us. It is the complete inversion of all of our fallen instincts of revenge and even our natural instincts of justice. But Jesus calls…

It Really Is a Wonderful Life

Life is hard. I don’t think anyone who has had to face the trials and tragedies of adult life could argue with this point. And there are times when we feel so completely crushed by the world where every day…

The 5 Kings at Christmas

Yesterday was the feast of the Epiphany. This is the story about how the magi came and adored the Child Jesus. Matthew’s account of the story is very sparse. The word “magi” is a very difficult word to translate as…

Assorted Reflections on Christmas

We are once again approaching the hour and moment when the Son of God was born. I don’t think that I have anything too terribly original to say about this great event and I’m sure wiser and holier people could…