Faith is awareness of God as a personal God, with our personal response to the love in which we have come to believe. It is a personal encounter, a contact with the divine Persons into which we are taken by…
Spiritual Direction
Three Questions for Lent and Beyond
Popular Catholic speaker Matthew Kelly often begins his presentations with this phrase: “There’s genius in Catholicism.” That couldn’t be truer. There are so many things about the Church that make perfect sense and one of them is the calendar. The…
Have a Chestertonian Marriage
A few years ago, a former student invited me to lunch. He was discerning the married life and he wanted my advice as a married man. I was shy to give it. It is not because I have a bad…
For freedom He set us free
“For freedom Christ has set us free.” (Gal 5:16) Why has Christ set us free? For freedom. Think about that; parse it. Christ did not set us free for some other reason and we got freedom as a bonus or…
Lent is Time to Get in Shape through Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving
Christianity is not a cheap religion. Being a Christian is difficult, and it takes sustained effort. Yes, Jesus freely offers salvation (we do not need to “earn” God’s love), but that doesn’t mean living a Christian life is easy: the…
Create A Clean Heart In Me, O God
This year I celebrate the beginning of Lent, and I do mean celebrate. Yes, it is a time to turn back to God, to repent and atone and grow in virtue, and repentance does entail sorrow and contrition. But I…
Jane Roe on the Damascus Road
In 1973, Norma McCorvey sued District Attorney of Dallas County Henry Wade over her desire to abort her unborn child. Given the pseudonym “Jane Roe,” the case went all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. The…
Random Thoughts
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned…
Interruptions
The apostles came back and told Jesus everything they had done. He took them with him, and they went off by themselves to a town named Bethsaida. When the crowds heard about it, they followed him. He welcomed them, spoke…
The Truth Hidden in a Rosebush
Playing badminton in a friend’s backyard I go long for a birdie, loose my footing, and land in a rosebush. While my friend veils an attempt to compose herself, I look to the heavens with disdain. What my friend does…