Many Protestant rebels from Luther forward placed mistaken reliance on the works of St. Augustine of Hippo as providing a patristic Fathers-of-the-Church warrant for their new teachings and heresies. Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, and other adherents of the Augsburg Confession (a document that set forth the beliefs, including some heretical beliefs, of Lutherans and others) employed […]
In a recent conversation, I mentioned to a friend that I had started writing a new book. He immediately seemed interested and asked about the subject. “Well,” I said, “it’s about how we’re all called to be saints and what that requires of us.” “I look at a lot of the qualities of saints and […]
Whenever I show anyone a picture of my beautiful, bouncing baby boy, inevitably one of the first three things they say is, “Oh my goodness, his eyelashes are so long!” (The other two are some variation of “Wow, he’s big!” and “He is so handsome!” I’m not biased—just reporting the facts.) It’s true, his eyelashes […]
For me, the cliché “I can read you like a book,” means I understand a person very well, that I can tell what they’re thinking without having to ask. Indeed, we’re all living and breathing books. I have believed that since I began my professional writing career more than 30 years ago. Most of that […]
I fancy myself a Christian. I was baptized Catholic and have practiced the faith over fifty years. I’m convinced I will need a lifetime of practice to make any noteworthy progress. My love for the Lord is deep. Teaching, writing, and talking about God, His love for humanity, and the necessity to be authentic witnesses, […]
The most terrifying aspect of living out Catholic sexuality is that it requires us to unflinchingly kill an entire world of potentials. In this world of dreamers, it can be very difficult to commit oneself to a given way of life simply because it entails giving up all other ways of life. It can be […]
William Shakespeare famously wrote “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players,” and so it is with us. Each of us “performs” each day on the world’s stage before the spectacle of our fellow man and before the saints and angels in heaven, under the watchful eyes of God. We […]
None of us is promised happiness in this life. All of us are guaranteed sorrow. Indeed, sorrow is the classroom where we often learn our most valuable lessons and through which we can climb ever closer to heaven – where we are promised happiness. Perhaps that’s why I am so drawn to praying the Sorrowful Mysteries […]
Mama, Mammy, Mom, Mommy. Sweet, Beloved, Dear. Think of all the terms of endearment we use for our mothers. Think of all the terms of love and care our mothers use for us. Of all our titles and names for Mary – The Litany Of Loreto, also called the Litany Of The Blessed Virgin Mary, […]
A boy falls and skins his knees. A boy wrestles in the living room and bonks his head on the coffee table. A boy tries to field a ground ball at shortstop, only to take a bad hop that bloodies his nose, or gets plowed by a much bigger boy on the football field. “Boys […]
It’s a well-known story of forgiveness in John 8, but it remains mysterious. “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery.” Upon hearing this, Jesus kneels and begins to write in the sand. What was Jesus writing? Scripture doesn’t tell us, but the reactions of those in the crowd give us […]
The early part of the first century A.D.: Herod was the one who had John arrested and bound in prison on account of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married. John had said to Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.’ Herodias harbored a grudge against […]
I can’t even begin to estimate how many times I have sung “Amazing Grace.” That includes all the solo renditions in my car, sung with heart and soul. Indeed, that first verse is a wonderful prayer: Amazing grace, how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m […]
Holy Week and Easter Sunday, the 2016 versions, are in our rearview mirror. That means we are in the midst of the Easter Season – a.k.a. Eastertide or Paschal Time. To exemplify the importance the season holds on the Church liturgical calendar, Eastertide lasts 50 days, longer than both Lent and Advent. St. Athanasius reckoned […]
“I’ve been served with a restraining order. I need a lawyer. Will you help me?” I answered the call one evening in 1989. I said yes and, as it turned out, from that point forward I have been active in the pro-life movement. The caller was Chuck Pelletier, founder of the local pro-life center here […]
I remember those Lents when I kept my resolution but still failed in what I set out to do. By giving up chocolate, diet soda, the internet and social media, I emerged from those 40 days slimmer, less addicted to caffeine, and Facebook-free, yet no stronger spiritually. The Lents that drew me closer to God […]
My Lenten meditation and prayer this year has yielded some spiritual fruit. I am trying to work toward a renewed focus on something in my life: Be Present. It’s a simple idea. I want to pursue a life that does less looking backward to where I have been and less looking forward to where I […]
My son called from graduate school, somewhat discouraged. As part of his degree program, he works with ninth graders, spending his days trying to convince jaded 13 and 14 year olds to care about literature. He’s new to the field and discovering that the major struggle in teaching is not making a lesson plan, but […]
There is nothing you can ever do to make God love you less. Nothing. This is very hard for us human creatures to wrap our heads around: a love so generous we can’t do anything to lessen it. Jesus came to make this point perfectly and tangibly clear through His life and death. In the […]
In the Book of Isaiah the prophet recounts his vision: He saw God, sitting before him on a “high and lofty throne”while the Seraphim stationed above cried out: “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts. All the earth is full of his glory.” Then at the sound of that cry “the frame of the […]
In my job, I supervise financial advisors for a large firm. I primarily focus on the best interest of clients, with special consideration given to the many laws and federal regulations governing the industry. I monitor a variety of actions using the phone, the computer and face-to-face interaction. Occasionally, I take extra time and make […]
My comment was met with a blank stare, a look of confusion. Fortunately, it only lasted a few awkward seconds. I was visiting my nurse practitioner for a nagging abdominal pain. Having concluded that I should have a CT scan (a detailed, in-depth x-ray) she had asked me if there was any chance I might […]
A study published in 2012 in a publication called “Prenatal Diagnosis” said that as many as 90 percent of all pregnancies with a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome resulted in “pregnancy termination,” i.e. abortion. Other studies indicate that about 6 percent of all abortions occur because the baby will have birth defects. A Guttmacher Institute […]
Recently I published the article “Hello, Church? Anybody Home?” I shared some of my exasperation towards Catholic churches who fail to make returning calls and emails a priority. The response, as you might guess, opened the proverbial can of worms. Comments made by readers echoed their frustration across the country through both personal experiences and […]
