From YMCAs to PlanetFitness to the latest CrossFit outpost in your local strip mall, gyms and fitness centers are an ubiquitous part of most American communities. The rise and fall of certain models can give us insight into factors we…
Parish Life Lessons: From Gyms and Fitness Centers
Christ the King & Last Judgment
Sunday Readings for Nov 26, 2017 On the final Sunday of the liturgical year, it is time to remember things that we’d prefer to forget. For starters, we recall that there is an infinite qualitative difference between us and God….
God’s Never In Over His Head
“The Lord rules over the deep waters; he rules as king forever.” (Psalm 29: 10) In the real world, nobody asks or cares if I made the honor roll in school. What matters is how I act in the situation…
Thanksgiving & Eucharist
For Americans, the term “Thanksgiving” conjures up images of turkey and cranberry sauce, parades, and bowl games. These “traditions” have come to mark an event made a perpetual institution of American life by President Abraham Lincoln. But why did Lincoln…
Thanksgiving
Last night I was putting Ana to bed. We had said our prayers and were laying there quietly talking. She asked if I was going to be a witch for Halloween and wanted to know when we would go trick…
The Parable of the Talents
Readings from Nov 19 the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time I’ve seen it time and time again. Someone decides to seek a better paying job, or pursue an investment strategy, or launch a new business. Invariably some pious person in…
God, Do You Care?
If you’ve said yes to that overwhelming, “love of God poured into [your] heart” (Romans 5:5) and have been following Jesus as His disciple for some time, you’re probably finding that you’re not as tempted by certain serious sins as you might…
A Jewish Physicist’s Conversion Story: Top Down to Jesus
Editor’s Note: Today we welcome Robert Kurland to our blog as a new author! “Be not afraid of faith: some are born with faith, some achieve faith, and some have faith thrust upon them.” (with apologies to William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night.) This…
The Meaning of Suffering
We human beings have struggled with the mystery of suffering for as long as we’ve existed. Why does suffering happen? Does it have a purpose? Can there be meaning in suffering? Different religions have different answers to the question. Paganism…
You are not your own
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? (1 Cor 6: 19) The Temple was the holiest of all places…