Love is something perfect, it is the life of God himself. But in an imperfect world, the price of love is sometimes suffering. Some say that suffering is too high a price to pay, that life should be the avoidance…
The Price of Love
Overcoming Careless Words
Pope Francis has not minced words when it comes to the sin of gossip, speaking about its perils on multiple occasions: In one homily he likened the act of gossip to Judas’ betrayal of the Lord, saying that when we gossip about someone…
The “Good Life” and Pre-Evangelization (Part 1 of 2)
The desire to live better, to live more deeply. To live in a way that is satisfying beyond wealth or material goods. This is a longing that has always existed, yet in our current cultural setting, is being spoken aloud…
The Flesh
Readings for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C Spirituality is really about the soul and the things of the soul. The body and its needs do not matter. In fact, the body is the soul’s prison. Salvation is…
An Open Letter to Our Bishops
Now this I say, that no man may deceive you by loftiness of words. For though I be absent in body, yet in spirit I am with you; rejoicing, and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith which is…
Rest in God
“Make the people sit down,” Jesus told them. John 6: 10 The first thing Jesus did before miraculously feeding the five thousand was to have the people sit down. When we’re spiritually hungry, the first thing God probably needs us…
Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, Evangelizer
Maria Francesca Cabrini stands next to Mother Teresa as the foremost evangelizing woman of the twentieth century. Yet few know much more about her than that she was the first American citizen canonized. Maria Francesca was the youngest of thirteen…
Joseph: The Earthly Father
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13 KJV) Joseph, a humble Jewish carpenter, married a woman who was pregnant with a child that wasn’t his child. In…
St. Francis of Assisi and Pope Francis
When Jorge Bergoglio was elected to the papacy, I wrote about his choice of name “Francis.” As a Jesuit I wondered if he meant Francis Xavier. But it turns out that he made took on the name in honor of…
The Messianic Secret
Readings for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time Jesus asks a simple question. “Who do the crowds say that I am?” (Luke 9:18) All volunteer an answer, because describing other people’s opinions requires no personal commitment whatsoever. But then Jesus…