I went to a Franciscan High School, but I don’t think I’ve ever been properly appreciative of St. Francis of Assisi. Some people try to reduce him to the saint who loved animals (he did) or the saint who was…
St. Francis Flips the Script
Division
Division, controversy and factions seem to be the order of the day, fueled by social media. Tensions seem to be mounting. Language used in social media seem to get more and more extreme, and divisions between people and groups seem…
What Will You Give Up For the Kingdom?
I was just reading about a teacher who asked his students to imagine that they were living in the South during the height of slavery. He asked all of them if they would have publicly opposed this evil institution. Naturally,…
They Want You To Feel Alone
Have you ever felt like the world no longer makes sense to you? Do you look at the chaos on the news and the general breakdown of all of the moral pillars on which you were raised and think “I…
Moving with God
A life with God is not static. Christians sometimes seem to think that God is merely a good idea: once we get our facts straight, we live according to them, and everything is set. But this is far from the…
Racism, Protesting, and the Catholic Church
Since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, there has been a great deal of upheaval in this country. A great deal of outrage has been expressed about racial inequality and police brutality. In addition to this, there have been…
Die, Rise, and Go – The Process of Evangelization
In the liturgical year we are now reliving the first novena: the original nine days of prayer between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost Sunday. In that time, the disciples gathered in prayer and preparation for the day that they would burst…
Love People to Love God
As Christians, we are called to love God. We are also called to love our neighbor. But the love of God and the love of neighbor are not merely two different things we are asked to do. They are actually…
Evangelization by Listening
The goal of evangelization is not to win arguments. If you are a reader of this website, you probably come here sometimes for answers on how best to answer some religious objection you’ve encountered or for some new way to…
The End of Penance
We have now left the penitential season of Lent. For many of us, as soon as this time ended, we dropped our Lenten sacrifices like a bad habit. In some sense, this is right and proper since we are not…