The fall sports season is upon us. Football season is starting in high schools, colleges, and the pros. The regular baseball season is winding down and soon we’ll be fixated on the playoffs and World Series. Local racing circuits are…
Run the Race, Hear the Cheers
Yes, you CAN teach
It’s that time of year when those running religious education programs are either praying desperately, canceling classes, or just spinning in circles. I don’t run a religious education program, but I am a parish staffer and I work closely in,…
RCIA: Rolling Out the Red Carpet
It’s that time of year that I like to write about something crucial, yet often overlooked: RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults). Are we rolling out the red carpet for new Catholics? Through my website and Facebook page, I…
A Gospel to Make You Squirm
Readings for September 8, 2013: 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time When I was a kid, I got the distinct impression there existed a two-track system in Catholicism. Some really decided to go for it. They became priests, nuns, and brothers…
An Attitude of Prayer, Revisited
Last summer, when I first began posting on New Evangelizers, I wrote about how and why I had been attempting to develop and attitude of prayer in my daily life. One that would not be confined to distinct “prayer times”,…
Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad
There is a Latin phrase, “In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas” often (mis) attributed to St. Augustine. In English it means “in essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.” There are certain points of the…
We Cannot Sleep Peacefully
In perhaps ironic fashion, the text woke me from a deep sleep at 2:01 am the morning of August 17th: We cannot sleep peacefully while babies are dying of hunger and the elderly are without medical assistance. — Pope Francis…
On the Non-Necessity of Man
One of the deepest desires of the human heart is the desire to be needed. We want to know that we are important. Depression sets in when we feel like another replaceable cog in the great machine of life, be…
Is my pastor above correction?
What should I do when I think a pastor is wrong? I’m not talking about wrong with regards to civil law. That’s clearer. If I know any leader—a priest, a lay minister, a volunteer, etc.—is violating the civil law, it…
Brotherly Love
Our priest from India told the story about an ecstatic young man who drove his new car all around town. He was elated with the car and stopped frequently to share his joy with everyone he met. At one stop…