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…
The Prodigal Brothers
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…
Faith in the Future
It is easy to believe when times are good. It is also easy to believe when we know what to expect. When we are in a reasonable routine and we make plans for tomorrow and those plans come to pass,…
Another Reason for an All-Male Priesthood
In my last article, I wrote about 7 reasons for an all-male priesthood. The teaching is very clear, but there are still many people, perhaps even with firm commitments to the spirit of fairness, that do not understand or accept…