Being a part of a Catholic parish isn’t a solo performance. A parish is made up of people, young and old, and requires everyone’s involvement to grow and thrive. For folks like me, getting involved is easy. For others, volunteering…
Death by Liturgy
In chapter 9 of Forming Intentional Disciples, Sherry Weddell teaches the would-be evangelist about an essential skill: listening. Grab a drink, get comfortable, and take a few minutes to practice that skill right now, by reading this post, written by…
The Role of Prayer in Evangelization
Editor’s note: Today we welcome Jean Heimann to our New Evangelizers blogging team. “Prayer is the gate through which all the graces of God come to us.” ~ St. Teresa of Avila To be an effective evangelizer, one must be…
What God Has Joined
While beginning this article, I am reminded of a moment in C.S. Lewis’s The Problem of Pain where he was greatly worried about sounding callous to the suffering of others. “How can I saw with sufficient tenderness what needs to…
Conversion: It’s What’s in the Middle
Imagine you’re playing a trivia game and in the final round, your team draws the question, “Name the Biblical figure who parted the Red Sea.” Moses. Phew. That was an easy one. For anyone who’s spent time around virtually any…
In A Fog
In late June the Church celebrates the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. When I think of Peter, the person, I always experience a variety of mixed emotions. I am amused by his brashness. I am surprised by how dumb…
Being God’s Instrument
Do you ever find yourself overwhelmed with the job in front of you? As a parent, I know my job is to get my family to heaven. Which is a worthy goal and a never-ending task. And completely impossible to…
Campaigning for Christ
I work in a parish and because it is a small one I wear more than one hat. This summer I am working on a PR proposal for the parish. The parish bulletin just isn’t enough when we are all…
Martha and Mary
Readings for July 21, 2013: Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time I once got a harsh letter from a Baptist lady protesting that she could not find the word “Catholic” anywhere in the Bible. True, the earliest occurrence of the term…
Fatherhood, Short and Sweet
Becoming a dad transformed my life and improved it exponentially. I could wax poetically on the subject of fatherhood, but nobody really enjoys poetic waxing, so here’s is a post on fatherhood, short and sweet. On Father’s Day, I heard…