Way back in my Catholic school days, I could never figure out why folks in the Bible couldn’t figure out Jesus was the real Jesus. Pilot…clueless. Caiaphas…clueless. The Jewish mob…clueless. How could all these people miss Jesus? Couldn’t they see…
Real Jesus
In a Minute
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. (1 Corinthians 15: 51-52) “Minute, Mom.” If I had a penny for every time I heard that…
Music: God’s Arrow to the Heart
Most of my articles here at New Evangelizers have focused on apologetics: giving a logical and systematic defense and explanation of the faith. As a religion teacher, this has been the focus of my career, to remove the intellectual obstacles…
Art for the Soul
As a young girl, Nellie Edwards dreamed of becoming a fine art painter. Off and on, throughout her life, she tried to paint. “Every attempt was pretty pathetic,” she said. “I thought that maybe someday I would take lessons.” At…
Fasting and Prayer: A Pathway to Peace
I’m on the winter blues bandwagon again! Yes, it’s still here in Chicago: heavy snowfalls, bitter cold and wind, and school closings. Last month I wrote how these humbling conditions can actually be a step in deepening our faith. However,…
A Call to Action in the Central African Republic
Sorry, but I’m about to rock your pleasant workday. Since I returned from my trip to Rwanda with Catholic Relief Services, I read the news headlines with a new type of intensity. It seems I can no longer sip my…
Unbound
I discovered Neal Lozano’s book, Unbound: A Practical Guide to Deliverance, when our covenant community planned an Unbound Conference with him. About 50 of us learned how to cooperate with the Lord to gain freedom from the influence of evil…
Create a Clean Heart in Me, O God
Have you ever felt like King David in today’s psalm? Here is a man who seems to have it all, to be a smashing success. The rags-to-riches story of a shepherd-boy-turned-king is something we usually only see in movies. He…
The Gift of Ordinary Time
Ordinary Time a gift? Man, that’s not a gift; it’s just the regular, run-of-the-mill Catholic mass season. Wait just a minute! Ordinary Time doesn’t mean mundane or dull in the way we modern Americans think of things as “ordinary.” The…
Michael Novak on His Journey from Liberal to Conservative
A few weeks ago I finished reading the latest book by Michael Novak, Writing from Left to Right: My Journey from Liberal to Conservative. (My review of that book is here.) I also had the opportunity to interview Mr. Novak about…