As with previous Popes, Francis teaches. It’s his job so to speak. As parents, we also are called to be the first and primary teachers, the “first heralds” of the faith to our children. We can learn a great deal about fulfilling that role by watching him do his job. In order to help us… [Read More]
Getting Back Into the Box; a Reflective Guide to Confession
When I first came into the Church, the Sacrament that stumped me the most was Confession, the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It wasn’t the idea of it. It wasn’t the theology of it. It wasn’t even claustrophobia. It was learning how to contain myself into this little ritual. This was difficult for me because of my… [Read More]
Lying, Confession, and St. Andrew
Lying Have you ever lied to someone? Did you mean to? Did you feel bad afterwards? What about during prayer? A friend and I recently shared a conversation about lying. In our own way, we each had entered into a state of sin; we fell short of our call to holiness and virtue. We shared… [Read More]
Giving Thanks in All Things
My husband and I built a Good Cents certified home last year, and we have been over the moon with the new space for our family and friends who come to visit. The house seemed so spacious when we first moved in. In fact, after the frame was up, I looked to my husband… [Read More]
Graces of the Child Mary: a Reflection on Our Little Mother’s Presentation in the Temple
When I was a kid, I loved looking at pictures of my mom from when she was little. Not only could I see hints of who she would become–those eyes, that smile…those knees…. That spunk! I could also more easily see the ways I looked like her. I could compare pictures of the two girls,… [Read More]
Beyond Duty Towards a Generous Heart
“Freedom comes in letting go. Open up the window to your heart. You are loved.” – JJ Heller Last Sunday we heard a parable about a servant during the Gospel reading. It’s a parable that has often confused me. What does Jesus mean by saying that when your servant comes in tired and hungry after… [Read More]
Have you read Lumen Fidei yet? Part III: Faith in Relation to Love and Truth
I’m still working on reading it myself! As we follow our Pope in all his tweets and homilies, and that beautiful and authentic interview released last week, and how the media responds, etc, let’s take a break from the sound-byte surfing and dive back in to the deep end – to continue our slow process… [Read More]
The Mystery of Parenthood: God’s Vulnerability
Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and as innocent as doves. (Matthew 10:16) We’ve been contemplating this concept of the mystery of parenthood for years – the idea of living parenthood with a heightened sacramental sense. We’ve attempted to be outward, visible signs… [Read More]
Hole-y Hearts: A Testimony to Ritual
Three days ago I moved into my apartment at Texas A&M. The good-bye to my family was sad, and although I could see how hot some of their eyes were getting, they held it together, which meant that I could hold it together. I love my family dearly and it was painful to see them… [Read More]
Parenthood, Faith, and Mystery
In reality, it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear … Christ the Lord, Christ the new Adam, in the very revelation of the mystery of the Father and of His love, fully reveals man to himself…He, who is the “image of the… [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]
Setting Your Family Ablaze – Part 5 of 5 – Evangelization
The last key to setting your family ablaze is to embrace the call to evangelization, “that is, the proclamation of Christ by word and testimony of life” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 905). For most Catholics, this seems to be the hardest one to embrace. Faith and Integration, the first two keys, can be done… [Read More]
Seeing God in Creation
Whenever I am out truly experiencing nature (ie, I’m not just sitting inside my house staring out the front door at the lawn), such as amongst Texas wildflowers, in a national park, hiking in the mountains, etc, I always have a moment (or several) of “How can someone see all this and deny that God… [Read More]
Prayer and Self Confidence: An Interior Reflection
What does it mean to be humble? What kind of self-denial (Lk 9:23) does that entail? Is the desire for humility contrary to that of self-confidence? Is one good and the other beautiful? I’d like these thoughts to continue in the Comment section. Does prayer nurture my humility? It would seem so – that the… [Read More]
Setting Your Family Ablaze – Relationships – Part 4 of 5
Relationships must be cultivated if we are to set our families ablaze and begin to change this culture. Relationships are the third necessary piece to the puzzle of transforming our families. For them to flourish, three elements, properly understood, must consciously and actively be made present in our families through the parents. As with all… [Read More]
Five Minute Mystic
The Church remembers Our Lady of Mt. Carmel today, Patroness and Exemplar of the life of the Carmelite Order, which began on Mt. Carmel in Israel 800 years ago and is still with us now. We have received a great treasury of Saints, of wisdom on prayer, and the map of the lived experience of… [Read More]
The Perfect Time for Parenting
I’ll never forget when my wife, Michelle, told me we were pregnant the first time. I unwrapped a gift to find tiny baby booties inside with a note that said, “Can’t wait to meet you, Daddy.” As I recall, I just started laughing. And then I kept on laughing. And then laughed some more. For… [Read More]
Thanksgiving and Detachment
This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad! Did you read what happened in that verse? The author acknowledged God’s work of creation and God’s work in creation. What follows when God is acknowledged? His creation is glad and rejoices! We are glad and we rejoice. The heavens declare… [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]
This I Believe* – I Believe in Community
The human reality of community has been on my mind and heart a lot lately. How we experience community is so foundational to how we experience Church. Pope Francis recently put forth a challenge to each of us: “What do I do to make the Church a community in which everyone feels welcomed and understood, [in which]… [Read More]
Four Keys to Setting Our Families Ablaze – Part 2 of 5 – Faith
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen … And without faith it is impossible to please Him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him” (Hebrews 11:1,6) If our families are to be set… [Read More]
Four Keys to Setting Our Families Ablaze – Part 1 of 5
I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled! (Luke 12:49) Jesus desired then, and He desires now that a fire be kindled on earth. Today, as much as at any time before in history, we as Catholics, as Christians, must take these words to heart. We must “rekindle… [Read More]
The Mystery of Parenthood
Fifteen years ago at St. Mary’s in College Station, I walked down the stairs with my then 3 year old son. What happened on those stairs opened my eyes and subsequently my wife’s eyes to the fact that parenthood does more for the parents than it ever does for the children. On that stairway, our… [Read More]
Confession and Pentecost; Grace and Power
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. -Proverbs 3:5-6 This verse is not like Confession; this verse is Confession. Four things happen. I entrust myself to God through a spiritual father, a… [Read More]
The Ascension and Authority, Relationship and Revelation
Yesterday was Ascension Thursday, the traditional day when the Feast of the Ascension is celebrated. However, most parishes in the US will celebrate the Ascension this coming Sunday (see this article for an explanation of why the date was moved!). In these Easter weeks leading up to the Ascension, and then Pentecost, we’ve been hearing… [Read More]
Pentecost is Coming! How to Have a Better Relationship with the Holy Spirit
Pentecost is coming and though it’s a couple of weeks away, I’m already thinking about it, preparing for it and praying towards it. I began cultivating my relationship with the Holy Spirit in Middle School and I’ve been blessed because of it. But it hasn’t always been easy, because the Holy Spirit is intangible and… [Read More]
Superman and Catholic Spirituality
This Friday, millions of Americans will flock to theaters to see Iron Man 3, the latest expansion of the Marvel universe series of films. Early reviews are good and I’ll likely go see it, even after the failure that was Iron Man 2. But, honestly, you can have Tony Stark. My focus is on the… [Read More]
No, no, no
All week long I’ve been trying to write about Boston, attempting to write some words of sense that are born out of a senseless situation. When sidewalks are awash with blood, an eight year old boy, among others, is dead, and limbs are lying on the ground, there is no sense. All I have are… [Read More]
No really, I’VE GOT THIS: The Perfectionist’s Struggle of Letting Others Help
Before you begin this blog, please answer the following questions (to yourself, or out loud if you like that kind of attention): 1. Would you consider yourself a ‘perfectionist’? 2. Have you ever been accused of being an over-achiever? 3. Are you one of those people that says “I’m fine!” in response to everything? If… [Read More]
The Forgotten Virtue of Nobility
We are a handful of dust, kept together by seventy-five per cent of liquid, with souls that were stained at birth and which are weighted all through our lives with a heavy downward lurch towards sin. – Caryll Houselander “Greatness” has a negative connotation in this day and age. Nobility is equated with riches and power. Born… [Read More]
2013 Catholic Advocacy Day
Catholic Faith in Action On Tuesday, April 9, Catholic faithful from across the great state of Texas gather together at the Texas State Capitol to celebrate Catholic Faith in Action Advocacy Day. Legislative Advocacy Days are an opportunity for Catholics to participate in the political process by voicing the concerns of the Texas Bishops, which… [Read More]
The Promise
photo credit: St. Thomas Aquinas parish, College Station, Tx I tuck my arm into my husband’s as we kneel during the consecration at Mass. I watch the communion line through eyes blurred by tears and listen to his steady voice blending with the rich harmonies of Ave Verum Corpus, while beside him I shake like… [Read More]
Falling Away With You
“[I] promise to hold you close and pray, watching the fantasies decay, nothing will ever stay the same. All of the love we threw away… making the same mistakes again making the same mistakes again I can feel my world crumbling I can feel my life crumbling… and falling away, falling away with you.” –… [Read More]
Habemus Papam! Pope Francis
UPDATE: The following is Bishop Joe Vasquez’s press conference about our new Holy Father. Thanks to Relevant Radio and Pat Ryan! [powerpress] Original Post: At approximately 1:13pm CST on Wednesday March 13, 2013 white smoke began billowing out of the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel. Viewership online at EWTN, CatholicTV.com, Salt and Light and more jumped… [Read More]
The Loose Ends of Marxism
It is uncommon to find an movement of revolt in the present age, which claims to stand for the poor and underprivileged, that is not somehow influenced by the ideology set forth by Karl Marx. The orthodox view and the more common contemporary view of Catholic social justice differ in that, without admitting it,… [Read More]
Confirmation is NOT Graduation: Seeing Sacraments as More Than Goals
In our lives it’s hard to measure success, or even know if we’re moving forward and growing without goals, markers and signs. In school we learned material, took a test to make sure we had comprehended and studied that material and received a grade for our efforts. As adults, we earn raises or reprimands based… [Read More]
Be still: Finding God amidst the mayhem.
As I write this, the wind outside howls and spins, causing the trees to throw up their branches in helplessness, and the walls of my apartment to tremble. It’s disconcerting, this wind. It came out of nowhere this morning, gaining intensity and speed throughout the afternoon, until it began to blow cars off the road,… [Read More]
Trust issues? I got ’em.
Trust. Now there’s a fun buzz word. We hear this all the time: “What? Don’t you trust me?” “Dude, trust me!” “You have some serious trust issues.” But what is that word, really? According to Webster, trust is the “assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something,” (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trust). Okay, so… [Read More]
The Challenge of LGBT Friendships
“He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’” -Matthew 16:14 Jennifer Fulwiler wrote an article several months ago documenting a conversation she had with an old friend who had chosen an “alternate” lifestyle. She handled it remarkably well and admirably defended her Catholic faith throughout the awkward affair. However, the… [Read More]
Super Bowl Half-Time Show: Beyoncé vs. The Puppy Bowl
A few years ago we were talking about Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction” during the Super Bowl halftime show. Half a second of an exposed breast, and the world went crazy. “Nipplegate” as it’s been called, was widely discussed and many saw it as an sign of the decreasing morality of the American culture. So where’s… [Read More]
