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Tax-Time Misery

Tax-Time Misery

Apr 12 15 • 1 comment

When I came to, I was on my back on the floor of my accountant’s office. “What happened?” I said. “When I told you how much you owe, you went down like ton of bricks,” said my accountant. “I owe the IRS again? But I set aside money every quarter!” “How many times do I […]

Divine Mercy: Drink it Up

Divine Mercy: Drink it Up

Apr 12 15 • 1 comment

At the Abbey of Gethsemane in New Haven, Kentucky, the bell tower of the monastery chimed at three a.m. like Big Ben, shaking me from my bed. A seismic shift. What’s up with these monks? Why do they pray so early? Because it’s their charism, the horarium of the Order of Cistercians of the Strict […]

An Uncomfortable Religion

An Uncomfortable Religion

Apr 10 15 • 1 comment

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past month, you’re undoubtedly familiar with the controversy surrounding Indiana’s “religious freedom” law. Debates on this issue ultimately boil down to a question of liberty v. justice. Christian business owners invoke their First Amendment right to exercise their conscience when it comes to whose patronage they […]

Who is Jesus?

Who is Jesus?

Apr 10 15 • 1 comment

At the beginning of Lent our pastor gave everyone in our parish some homework to do. He asked us to read the Gospel of Mark. He wanted us to first just read through the entire gospel once and then to go back and read it a second time with a particular purpose in mind. He […]

Murder's Enduring Stigma

Murder’s Enduring Stigma

Apr 10 15 • 0 comments

Colorado is no stranger to the scene of bone-chilling events. These include the mysterious JonBenet Ramsey murder and the Columbine massacre. Most recently we find something equally monstrous—Dynel Lane’s attack on Michelle Wilkins, resulting in the death of Wilkins’ preborn baby. Summarizing this case, writer Matt Walsh states: A couple of weeks ago, a pregnant […]

Why Me, Lord? A Meditation

Why Me, Lord? A Meditation

Apr 10 15 • 2 comments

Why, Lord, did you give me this father, this mother, this brother, this sister, this son, this daughter, this relative, this in-law, this person, this acquaintance, this alleged friend? Why did you do this to me? Why did you put them in my life? Why did you put me in their lives? I do not […]

The Totally Phony Notion of “Unmet Need” for Contraception

The Totally Phony Notion of “Unmet Need” for Contraception

Apr 9 15 • 0 comments

As the UN puts polishing touches on their ambitious global plan to curb poverty, attention shifts from the political to the technical: how to measure progress and ensure targets are clearly defined? The new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide an opportunity to reassess the “indicators” or benchmarks for reaching the expiring Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) […]

Poem: "Oh How I Love Her"

Poem: “Oh How I Love Her”

Apr 9 15 • 2 comments

A Spoken Word Poem by TJ Burdick

The "Orthodox Practice" on Divorce and Communion, Part II

The “Orthodox Practice” on Divorce and Communion, Part II

Apr 9 15 • 5 comments

At the close of the Extraordinary Synod of Catholic Bishops last October, the Synod’s Final Report ( the “Lineamenta”) included a questionnaire on pastoral practices on family issues.   Among the questions was number 38.  It opened with the following premise: “With regard to the divorced and remarried, pastoral practice concerning the sacraments needs to be […]

Garissa University College, Kenya

The Garissa University College Massacre

Apr 9 15 • 3 comments

So, why isn’t everybody talking about this?

<em>The Second Greatest Story Ever Told</em>

The Second Greatest Story Ever Told

As one might expect, the first greatest story ever told is that of God creating the world and then sending His son to save us from our sins. Throughout human history, God has wanted His people to know Him, to love Him, and to Trust Him, but due to sin, this has not been an […]

Our God is a Mighty God

Our God is a Mighty God

Apr 7 15 • 0 comments

I love silence. I crave it sometimes, especially in a world that seems filled with noise 24/7. Radios and TVs, alarm clocks and iPods, CD players and Youtube, telephones and cell phones and people talking-talking-talking wherever we go. It can be a challenge to hear God’s voice over all of that noise. We might try […]

“Save Yourselves from this Corrupt Generation” (Acts 2:40)

“Save Yourselves from this Corrupt Generation” (Acts 2:40)

Apr 7 15 • 0 comments

This verse in the Book of Acts brings an image to my mind of a street activist holding a sign with these words scrawled across it — a scenario many would turn away from. But those who heard St. Peter’s speech at Pentecost were “cut to the heart by it,” and that day three thousand were baptized […]

Is Indiana’s Debate the Precursor to a <em>Forbidden God</em>?

Is Indiana’s Debate the Precursor to a Forbidden God?

Apr 7 15 • 1 comment

No matter what side of the debate you find yourself on, the heated discussion surrounding Indiana’s recently passed religious freedom restoration act is infuriating. For those who honestly condemn bigotry it appears to be a discriminatory power grab, one that is nothing less than downright disheartening. For those who welcome the measure, they see a […]

Dawn of the Living Dead

Dawn of the Living Dead

Mary Magdalene wept. Inconsolable. Bereft. Her mind raced. What’s going on here? she thought. I think I need to go lie down, put a warm towel across my forehead and drink a cup of herbal tea. Too much, too soon, too fast, and I can’t wrap my mind around it. They say it is darkest […]

Can It Be?

Can It Be?

Apr 4 15 • 16 comments

I celebrate my 21st Easter this year, 2015. For the first 38 years of my life I did not celebrate Easter because I was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, a pseudo-Christian group with a very strange economy of salvation. It is not easy to describe life in a cult like Jehovah’s Witnesses. It is very dark. Even […]

Poem"Maybe No Dyin' Today"

Poem”Maybe No Dyin’ Today”

Apr 4 15 • 5 comments

Maybe No Dyin’ Today Don’t feel much like walkin’ today. Don’t want to do that hill. Dad, let this pass now and Maybe tomorrow I will. Walkin’s gotta be over now, But look on up this hill. Don’t want no more pain today. Maybe tomorrow I will. This really hurts like hell, Each step up […]

Waterboy, Where are You Hiding?

Waterboy, Where are You Hiding?

John Mark was only a boy when he met Jesus. His mother Mary, a prominent member of the seventy disciples who followed Jesus throughout his three-year ministry, opened her home to the Lord and his Apostles. In the upper room of Mary’s house they held the Last Supper. Six weeks later the Apostles and Mary […]

Enough is Enough

Enough is Enough

Apr 3 15 • 1 comment

“I think all of us should have a respect for innocent life. With regard to the freedom of the individual for choice with regard to abortion, there’s one individual who’s not being considered at all. That’s the one who is being aborted. And I’ve noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born. […]

Do Small Things with Great Love

Do Small Things with Great Love

Apr 3 15 • 0 comments

The older I get, the more time I spend enduring medical exams and “procedures.” Never willing to waste time, I often pray in my moments alone while waiting. I’m also fond of chatting up and observing people. That can provide flashes of grace. Recently, I was laying on a hospital bed in expectation of being […]

The Cross is for Wretches Like Me

The Cross is for Wretches Like Me

Apr 3 15 • 0 comments

In his remarkably profound book, Lift Up You Heart, Bishop Fulton Sheen said, “The Cross is the most inescapable reality of life. If we will not accept it outside of ourselves, to pardon us and to heal, then we will have it inside, as frustration and despair.” The life changing reality of Calvary has been […]

Holy Week 2015: Sinai Pantocrator, John 15:18 Greek and English

Holy Week 2015

Apr 2 15 • 0 comments

John 15:18

Flight Night

Flight Night

There are two kinds of stories. Someone goes on a journey. A stranger comes to town. Often these storytelling techniques occur simultaneously. For instance: years ago, the kind words of a Cuban rosary warrior named Rosemary Sharpe spurred me to begin anew my journey to the priesthood. One morning I was praying in the chapel […]

His Flesh is True Food

His Flesh is True Food

Apr 2 15 • 0 comments

“Take and eat; this is my body… Drink from [the cup], all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant…” (Matthew 26:26-27). These are Jesus’ words at the Last Supper, on the first “Holy Thursday,” as he offered to his apostles what appeared to be bread and wine. As Catholics, we believe that Jesus […]