This week, I had an encounter with Jesus I wasn’t expecting, but that I should have seen coming. I made an appointment for confession and spiritual direction, and I arranged to have it at my house. It shouldn’t have surprised…
Eating My Spiritual Vegetables
On the Necessity of a Magisterium
I was asked a question recently by a good friend about the content of what Muslims really believe. In other words, he asked me what true Islam was. This is actually a more difficult problem than it first appears. Mohamed…
Let Your Hair Down
If we look around our contemporary society it is an easy thing to say that we have simply gone mad. Courts are acting as Law givers, human parts are being sold as casually as car parts and our society is…
The Tale of Two Men
Readings for October 8, 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B He was curious. He had already fulfilled all the elementary requirements. He was a decent person who hadn’t killed anybody, had honored his parents, and would never think of…
The Great Uncertainty – Problems with Individual Fallibility
Yesterday I listened to a two hour debate between Catholic author and apologist Devin Rose, and Nathaniel Taylor a graduate of Biola University, Westminster Theological Seminary, and a current philosophy student at Talbot School of Theology. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to…
Abortion and the Way of Crowds
Not long ago, I spent my first morning standing outside of the local abortion clinic, praying as part of 40 Days for Life. It’s hard to describe that first experience, to find words that sound neither prideful nor despairing. The…
The Fastest Way to Grow is to Share
I’ve been listening to a new series called “Next Steps” from Church of the Nativity in Timonium, MD. (You can listen to “Next Steps 01” here). Within this first homily in the series, Fr. Michael White asserted, “the fastest way…
Jesus, the Word of God
The Church talks about Jesus as the Word of God, and Catholics have gotten used to hearing him called this, but what does it really mean? A word is a message, but how can Jesus be a message? Jesus is…
Who does Jesus say that I am?
A classic question that Jesus asks his disciples is, “Who do you say that I am?” That soul-searching question is a popular retreat theme that we all need to ponder. From another perspective, what if you asked, “Who does Jesus…
Marriage & Family
Readings for October 4, 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, The Beatles wrote a song that was the sensation of 1967, “All you need is love.” This the same point made a few years earlier by an ecumenical council of the…