Why bother with Catholic fiction? As I write this, I’ve just returned from the Catholic Writers Guild’s annual live conference (our online conference is held in early spring), and once again I’ve met dozens of great Catholic authors eager to…
Envy, the No-win Sin
Let’s play the “What if…” game. What if you just lost your job while your co-worker received a promotion and a big raise? Would you be happy for him? What if a parent that was often critical of your children…
Growing Habits
We’re packing up. Moving out. Sorting and sifting through possessions, packaging them in boxes. Making a pile of items to donate. Taking apart furniture. As I pack, I can’t help but think about how I want our next house to…
Marriage Evangelization
Have you ever stopped to consider evangelizing for a specific purpose? Of course we want people to know Jesus but what about people who already know Christ and are Catholic but are not living out their faith in life, specifically…
Not Peace but the Sword
Readings for August 18, 2013: Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time One of the themes of Pope Francis at World Youth Day 2013 was to “shake things up.” This is quite different from the advice I was given as a child:…
Let them go, let them grow!
It happens all too soon. That newborn baby, who needed you for everything from taking care of feeding and clothing to kissing boo-boos, suddenly doesn’t need you 24/7. I remember our youngest son at preschool age. I tried to talk…
Shed the Bushel Basket and Let Your Light Shine
It is human nature to be drawn toward the call of the past. Through the filtered lenses of our time telescope, we often get a much-too-perfect perception of the past. The way things were often seem so simple and so…
Solemnity of the Assumption
Readings for August 15, 2013: Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary I once asked a college theology class if anyone could explain the doctrine of the Assumption. A student replied, “Yeah, that’s the teaching whereby the Catholic…
The Power of Story: An Interview with Joseph Pearce
I recently had the pleasure of talking with Joseph Pearce about the power of personal stories, especially as a means of evangelism. He’s uniquely well-suited to the topic: he has taught and written on fictional characters’ journeys, and he has shared others’ stories…
3 Catholic Responses to John Boswell’s “Same-Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe”
As of late, the internet has been buzzing about a book written nearly 20 years ago called Same Sex Unions in Pre-Modern Europe. It was written by homosexual activist John Boswell and was published just after he died. But there…