It is a day to celebrate, to be with loved ones, and to pray for our nation. Let it also be a day to reflect on who we are, and who are called to be! What is our mission as Catholics in the US? And what does it mean to talk about our mission as… [Read More]
This Advent, Let Our Relationships Be Transformed
The King’s Criteria In the rhythm of this getting-back-to-normal after the long Thanksgiving holiday, if we glance up we see that Advent is just ahead. And while Thanksgiving can often bring many blessings as we enjoy time together, oftentimes relationship challenges surface as well. We speak of Advent as a time to prepare… [Read More]
Making the Root of Holy Wisdom Our Own
“…and he shall find her sitting by his gate.” You know those moments when you’ve been thinking about or reading about something, and then it happens to come up at Sunday mass? When the readings or the homily are about exactly what’s been on your mind/heart? I love when that happens! That happened to me… [Read More]
How does modern man best hear the call the conversion?
In this liturgical season of conversion, we are faced with the question: Just exactly how does “conversion” happen? How is change possible in our daily lives, and in a lasting way? I’d like to go deeper into thoughts from my last post, as a kind of part II (see: Living Lent Like a Little One)…. [Read More]
Living Lent like a Little One
Lent is a season of conversion, a call to repentance, a time of turning back to God. To me, these are Christ’s most striking words on conversion: Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3) Unless you turn and become! We shall not enter… [Read More]
Of Mary, Never Enough
“De Maria, nunquam satis!,” St Bernard of Clairvaux once said. Of Mary, never enough! In these last few days before the great feast of Christmas, perhaps you’re feeling harried or haven’t had time to prayerfully prepare, or just aren’t quite into the Christmas. Or perhaps you’re drowning in carols all day, but not feeling very contemplative or… [Read More]
Objectivity & Healthy Self-love: An Advent reflection on “Catholic Guilt”
“Catholic guilt” came up recently in a conversation about psychology and religion. It also came up sometimes back in my grad school counseling classes. In these conversations, I often hear the question, “Isn’t “Catholic guilt” psychologically unhealthy?” I think it’s a great question. Can there be something unhealthy about guilt? I think so. How can we clarify… [Read More]
Therese of Lisieux & The Marian Jubilee of Mercy
It’s possible that St Therese of Lisieux is one of those saints of whom we hear so often that we think, well, we already know that story – next! Yet I think we often only capture her “slogan” of childlikeness, and in skipping over it, we miss the profound and prophetic truth manifested in her life…. [Read More]
The Radio-Man, New Media & The New Man (Vatican II & Social Communication, Part II)
Social media & technology have been coming up recently in several conversations with friends of mine. The other night at a group of us were talking about youth and smart phones. I mentioned I’d been doing some substitute teaching lately, and experienced a little culture shock in seeing how nearly every high school student and… [Read More]
Changes
Right now my life is going through many changes. I have a new job that signifies a new phase of my professional career. I moved into a new home in a new part of town, and there is a lot yet to be settled and figured out. It’s a whirlwind of a Lenten season, with… [Read More]
