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…
Lent: Spiritual Boot Camp
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…
7 Reasons for an All-Male Priesthood
Recently, I had a former student ask me why the Catholic Church only ordains men to the priesthood. Below is my admittedly long-winded answer. I know that this is a stumbling block for many. As a young Catholic, I did…
A Brief Response to Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking passed in early 2018, but one of his books is being published posthumously. This book is getting a great deal of press because it expresses Hawkings’ atheistic beliefs of a universe that is explainable without God. Seeing as…