I recently came across a website of an organization called “Freedom from Religion” which had a very specific goal: to help all people purge religion from their lives so that they could be “free.” This view on religion is nothing new, and it isn’t surprising that a movement is currently happening to abolish religion from… [Read More]
No Room at the Inn: an ongoing true story
My youngest daughter begged me to help a friend of hers whose family had no place to live. It was an emergency situation. They had tried everything. Her friend had come to her in tears- a friend who I had only ever seen smile and laugh- a kid I remembered by his radiant smile. This… [Read More]
Austin CARITAS Mission 2015!
Dear readers! We are in the Third Week of Advent, with Gaudete Sunday! How are you going to share the joy of Christ? This is my Advent Challenge, simply put – how you will go out, as Pope Francis as said so many times, to the periphery to share the joy of the Gospel, to… [Read More]
My One on One with a Vincentian: Seeing the Face of Christ in the Poor
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul was founded by a college student, Frederic Ozanam, and six of his companions, who were challenged in a university setting which was openly hostile to Christianity and Catholics. “What has Christianity to offer? Where are its works now? Show us your works!” This was the attitude common in… [Read More]
Lumen Fidei: Part II, We Have Believed in Love
(This is the second reflection over Lumen Fidei in a series. This installment covers Chapter One: We Have Believed in Love. For the introduction, please see Lumen Fidei: Part I, Illusion and Illumination). Introduction We received a perfect inspiration to return to studying Pope Francis’ encyclical, Lumen Fidei, The Light of Faith, during last Sunday’s mass…. [Read More]
Lumen Fidei: Part I, Illusion and Illumination
With all of the excitement from World Youth Day in Rio, we’ve been receiving fresh doses of inspiration from our dear Pope each day. Pope Francis has been building a deep and coherent message for all of us these past few weeks, starting with the publication of Lumen Fidei, his first encyclical. Even as he… [Read More]
Quid Amor?
Love, an emotion? a feeling? What is love? Today many people, when they think of love think of it as an emotion or a feeling. For them, love is possible of fading or dying. Love, for many, is just a state of mind that one can fall into or fall out of. But is this… [Read More]
What Love Really Means (Review: “The Four Loves”)
Love is complicated. After I came back to the Church, I realized that the world’s definition of love wasn’t going to cut it. I knew that it had to be more than just a feeling, but I was still confused. How could I define something so powerful, so sacred, and so broadly applicable to everything… [Read More]
Fraternity: A Place of Charity and Indulgence
What does it take to be a man of God? The place of fraternity cultivates what we as men aspire to, masculinity. It sounds easy enough, but we don’t always cultivate the word of God in our heart (Col 3:16). We don’t always act in charity toward our brothers, sometimes we indulge in sin. Sometimes… [Read More]
Catholic Frenemies
Towards both God and others, at times we’re like Peter, at other times like Paul, sometimes we’re like John and even other times we’re like (doubting) Thomas. But what worries me the most is when we’re like Judas. Because when we’re like Judas, we often act as a frenemy. Frenemies. We all have them. Sometimes,… [Read More]
Everyone has a Right to… : Homosexuality & the Catholic Church
“Unfortunately, in our efforts to teach the wrongness of homosexual acts, at times all that has been ‘heard’ is the sound of condemnation and rejection. What is missed, then, what is not heard, is the Church’s teaching that people with a homosexual orientation, like everyone else, are created in God’s image and possess a human… [Read More]
