On the Necessity of the Trinity

The first and deepest mystery of the Christian faith is the Trinity. It is a mystery because we can never fully understand it: we have 3 distinct Persons in One God.  The Father is not the Son, neither of Them…

Romance Has No Reason

I don’t believe the cultural attack on marriage is an accident. While we are making progress as a culture in some areas like respect for unborn life, there is little question that we are losing the importance of marriage.  There…

Failure on the Faith Journey

I don’t know about you, but I am constantly confronted by my own failure on this journey of faith.  Sometimes it even feels like all of my efforts to holiness end in failure.  Looking back on my life, there are…

Secular Arguments for Traditional Marriage

“That religion should be relegated to solitude in such an age is, then, paradoxical. But it is also dangerous for two reasons. In the first place, when the modern world says to us aloud, ‘You may be religious when you…

The Tenth Leper Lenten Challenge

I apologize in advance if someone wiser than I has already come up with this idea and in my ignorance I have now aped someone’s originality.   But a number of years ago, I was introduced to an activity called…

Love Being Hated

I remember waiting for an elevator at a store.  When it opened, there was a woman waiting to get off.  I was lost in some random thought, so I rudely went in before letting her out.  I realized my error…

Philanthropy vs. Sainthood

What does it mean to be a saint? In ancient times, this could mean anyone who is a part of the Christian community.  Today when we speak of saints, we are talking about those people of heroic grace and virtue…

Catholic Pop Culture 2014

As I did last year, I shall recall any good things from the popular culture that are harmonious or helpful to Catholic culture. And as I wrote last year, it is not necessary to indulge a fascination with pop culture…

Plans of Man, Plans of God

Christmas is upon us.  And there is no better time to remember how wonderfully unexpected it all was. To be sure, the Israelites were desperately waiting and expecting the coming of the Messiah.  But God has a funny way of…

Love As If You Have No Hope

Ours is a faith of paradoxes. If you want to live, you have to die.  God’s most powerful deed was becoming small. And when it comes to bring people to Christ, sometimes the best way to do this is to…