Y’all know how the New Evangelization means you have to actually speak to, well, people. Sometimes people you don’t know. Standing in front of you. About religious stuff. Aack. It’s not for everybody. Or is it? I try to meet…
What You Say, What They Hear
In my article “Let Freedom Ring“, I asked “What does it mean to be free?” How can we do that? How can we ask what a word means? The answer is simple — that words have meanings. Those meanings can…
Terrorism and the Cross
September 11, 2001 is a day that never will be forgotten. Most of us can remember exactly where we were when we heard the news. An airliner had crashed into one of New York’s twin towers. When a second plane…
Run the Race, Hear the Cheers
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…
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…