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…
The Tenth Leper Lenten Challenge
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…
The Church Uses Live Ammo
I’ve observed a general feeling in much of the world today that looks at the Catholic Church as an outdated group with quaint, if not retrograde, beliefs that just can’t leave well enough alone. “Who cares if people of the…
Infectious Sin
We had an Ebola scare in my region of the country. Before all of the facts were out, there was a lot of confusion and nervous laughter as people joked about the disease all the while masking their fear. I…
Policy vs. Doctrine
The 2014 Synod has come to a close and more has been made of it in the media than most synods in recent history. Going into the synod, we knew that since the topic related to all things regarding the…
On the Necessity of Petition Prayer
In a previous article, I wrote about how there is no prayer too small to be brought before the throne of God. I wanted to follow up a bit more about the concept of petitionary prayer and why we need…