The Tale of Two Men

Readings for October 8, 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B He was curious.  He had already fulfilled all the elementary requirements.  He was a decent person who hadn’t killed anybody, had honored his parents, and would never think of…

The Great Uncertainty – Problems with Individual Fallibility

Yesterday I listened to a two hour debate between Catholic author and apologist Devin Rose, and Nathaniel Taylor a graduate of Biola University, Westminster Theological Seminary, and a current philosophy student at Talbot School of Theology. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to…

Abortion and the Way of Crowds

Not long ago, I spent my first morning standing outside of the local abortion clinic, praying as part of 40 Days for Life.  It’s hard to describe that first experience, to find words that sound neither prideful nor despairing. The…

The Fastest Way to Grow is to Share

I’ve been listening to a new series called “Next Steps” from Church of the Nativity in Timonium, MD. (You can listen to “Next Steps 01” here). Within this first homily in the series, Fr. Michael White asserted, “the fastest way…

Jesus, the Word of God

The Church talks about Jesus as the Word of God, and Catholics have gotten used to hearing him called this, but what does it really mean?  A word is a message, but how can Jesus be a message?  Jesus is…

Who does Jesus say that I am?

A classic question that Jesus asks his disciples is, “Who do you say that I am?” That soul-searching question is a popular retreat theme that we all need to ponder. From another perspective, what if you asked, “Who does Jesus…

Marriage & Family

Readings for October 4, 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time,  The Beatles wrote a song that was the sensation of 1967, “All you need is love.”  This the same point made a few years earlier by an ecumenical council of the…

Change of Seasons – Change of Heart

It’s official, autumn is here. Oh, I do know that autumn technically arrived a week or so ago at the equinox. It just doesn’t seem like fall when the temperature here is still near triple digits every day. But when…

The Pope and Practical Politics

It is no secret that we live in very politically polarized times.  And perhaps you are like me in that not only am I devoutly Catholic, but I also have very strong political convictions. But as Catholics, what do we…

Because life happens

And sometimes it seems to be happening at a surprisingly fast clip.  And all my well intentioned plans don’t seem to be executed as well as I’d hoped.  So today is my day to give you  some thoughtful and hopefully thought provoking…