Do you ever find yourself overwhelmed with the job in front of you? As a parent, I know my job is to get my family to heaven. Which is a worthy goal and a never-ending task. And completely impossible to…
Fatherhood, Short and Sweet
Becoming a dad transformed my life and improved it exponentially. I could wax poetically on the subject of fatherhood, but nobody really enjoys poetic waxing, so here’s is a post on fatherhood, short and sweet. On Father’s Day, I heard…
Peace on Earth Requires Peace on Our Hearts
Why is it that the smallest inconvenience can set some people off while others maintain calm in the face of great adversity? What is the difference between those who know peace on earth and those who don’t? It is in…
No, I’m *not* quitting Facebook.
I’ll admit it. When I heard Matthew Warner talk about quitting Facebook on SQPN’s Catholic Weekend, many of the things I haven’t been able to articulate well came to the forefront of my thoughts. And then when he wrote about…
God’s Way, Not Our Way
We all have hopes and dreams, and many of us plan out our way to fulfill those hopes and dreams in our lives. But we have to remember to follow God’s way, not our way. Our way, our best laid…
Poolside Evangelization
My son Gerard and I just returned from a week at Cub Scout camp, where torrential rain and frequent thunderstorms limited the opportunities for fun stuff like hiking and boating. You can imagine the delight of Gerard and his camp…
Let Freedom Ring
In the United States, we’ve just celebrated the Fourth of July, or Independence Day. It’s a day celebrating the freedoms for which our forebearers fought and died. Around the world, peoples are protesting, fighting, praying, and working for greater freedom….
The Biggest Challenge of Teaching High School Theology
All teachers have their challenges, and religion teachers are no different. But beyond the usual problems of apathy and lack of diligence there is another all-important obstacle. Unlike most other subjects, theology classes appeal directly to the life choices of…
Praying before Mass
If you’ve ever leafed through a Catholic prayer book, you might have stumbled upon various prayers before Mass (see here or here for some examples). At first glance, these kind of prayers might confirm some of the negative stereotypes about…
The Silver Lining between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
It was one of those feel-good-about-yourself Christian mornings. Rather than hitting the snooze button on my alarm as I so often do, I rustled out of bed and spent an hour reading scripture while the house was still quiet. The…