Readings for July 6, 2014: 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time I once knew a woman who called herself “a recovering Catholic.” It seems that, as a child, she was taught a religion that was all about guilt. Impossible demands were…
The Secret of the Light Yoke
Let True Freedom Ring
The Fourth of July always seems to make people stop and reflect on the core values of our culture. One of these values is freedom. We talk about political freedom, religious freedom, and economic freedom. Listen or read any type…
Distance Learning for Catholics: Training Ourselves for the New Evangelization
During a recent radio segment on The SonRise Morning Show, host Matt Swaim and I took on the topic of “nanodegrees” as described in the New York Times: This week, AT&T and Udacity, the online education company founded by the Stanford…
The Fourth of July and a Revolutionary Approach to the Bible
In the days when states were still “the colonies” and men wore powdered wigs, a new way of thinking captured the intelligentsia of the western world. “The miracle stories in the Bible and the lives of the saints may be…
The Book of Tobit vs. ‘Tobit’s Dog,’ by Michael Nicholas Richard
Tobit’s Dog is a love story amid the battle between heaven and hell for the souls of the good guys as well as the racists, murderers, rapists, thieves and connivers not portrayed in the biblical version of the Book of…
Barnabas and Paul: Enabling Evangelization
Yesterday our Church celebrated the wonderful solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. Without question Paul is one of the most well-known, pivotal, and remarkable men to serve Jesus Christ as an evangelizer. Yet without a certain brother in Christ–Saint Barnabas,…
You Mean Life’s NOT All About Me?
Readings for June 29, 2014: Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles “Self” Magazine is certainly a sign of the times. This is an age when it is socially acceptable to admit that life is all about me. But selfishness…
Spiritual Warfare: The Full Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle…
How St. Thérèse Draws Me Closer to the Heart of Jesus
I first learned about St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus when I was 15 years old, a sophomore in a Catholic high school. In English class, her autobiography, Story of a Soul, was one of the options on our required…
Scheduling Evangelization into Parish Life
If you want to make something happen, put it on the calendar. Want to exercise more? Set days and times aside for exercising. Can’t seem to find time for prayer or Bible study? You can’t just hope you’ll “find the…