Facebook promotes a very odd concept of ’knowing’ someone, and it has led to the further warping of our sense of friendship. My experience, like many of you, has been a passing meeting with someone leads to a friend request. But, we are not friends. We are barely acquaintances and yet we claim to know […]
Emily and I drove home from the hospital in complete silence. The gravity of the moment eleven years ago hit me: we were responsible for someone else’s life. Gulp. At this time, I had been a Catholic for only three years. Through conversion, I fell in love with the theology and the sacraments. Yet, I […]
A founding principle of the Knights of Columbus was to help men protect their families from financial ruin should disaster strike the husband and father. As the son of a woman who was widowed with four children ages 5-15, and a member of the Order, I support this work. Yet a husband’s job goes far […]
I always cringe a little when I hear people of various Protestant denominations say they belong to a “Bible-based” church and that, as a Catholic, I don’t. They aren’t right, of course. Unfortunately, they aren’t completely wrong, either, when they imply that, generally, Catholics don’t “know our Bible” the way many of them do. I […]
The moment doesn’t last that long. A few minutes, tops. It happens every Saturday morning I’m able to drag my body out of bed at 6 o’clock to join my brothers in Christ at a local Bread Company. Either Larry Boldt or Jim LaVictoire passes out a card to each member of our group — […]
Sanctity. This is the first rule of a Catholic man. Be a saint and create the most fertile ground for your spouse to be a saint. Share your dessert. This is one of the hardest tests. You have eaten a good dinner. The sweet tray is brought to your table. She says she does not […]
The “God moment” arrived during the performance of a high school musical one year ago. Not that it should have been confused with just any high school musical. This was the Youth Sing Praise program, an outstanding combination theater camp and religious retreat that has been operating for one week in June for the last […]
It is late, almost midnight. The St. Louis Cardinals ballgame ended just a few moments ago, so I turn off the radio on the nightstand. Now, the house is quiet, the bedroom dark. The only sounds I can detect are the dog’s snoring and my wife’s soft breathing as she lays sleeping next to me. […]
In a recent conversation with a Protestant friend, I mentioned that we all are called to be saints. “That’s just too Catholic for me,” she said. Those words stung. What does “too Catholic” mean? Do people of our faith tradition give the impression to non-Catholics that we strive for something different than them? For that […]
Every day, I look in the mirror and am not sure I know the man looking back at me. He looks familiar. But his hair is grayer than I remember, his beard white instead of brown, the face a bit fleshier and showing some lines. The man I see is older than I expect — […]
The following are actual questions from real women who have concerns about their boyfriends and other women. My boyfriend works in an office with some really beautiful women. I can’t imagine why he hasn’t fallen for one of them. I don’t know how much longer I can stand it. He knows I’m uncomfortable with it […]
For I am not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: for Jew first, and then Greek. (Romans 1:16) The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. Two […]
Elizabeth Crnkovich also contributed to this article. Radical feminists have long dreamed of “fixing” men, so that women could be relieved of the burden of birth control. Now comes a new study on mice purporting to show that men can be chemically neutered, supposedly without side effects. Male birth control has been the object of much research […]
There seems to be a growing idea in our world today that we don’t actually need men for much more than their “contribution” to the furthering of the human race. This idea has become so prevalent that an opinion piece about it has made its way to the New York Times. Greg Hampikian, the author […]
Please read Using the Gifts God Has Given You, Part 1, Using the Gifts God Has Given You, Part 2 and Using the Gifts God Has Given You, Part 3. The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit […]
In my position with the Diocese of Toledo, I get to instruct people on the joys of Catholic marriage: The two become one flesh. Marriage is gift of self. My path to holiness is through my spouse. Marriage is free, total, faithful, and fruitful. As Christ died on the cross for his bride the Church, […]
As a therapist, people often ask me, “What makes men happy?” Some believe it’s a happy marriage, a successful career, or a strong relationship with God. I say it’s all of these! However, they must be kept in the right order. I believe the secret for a happy life for men is having one’s priorities […]
When it was evening, his disciples went down to the sea, embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum. It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, […]
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? […]
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit […]
I would like to introduce you to an exciting new men’s prayer group based on the Gospel of Mark’s story of Four Men who brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus for healing. Through their faith they obtained their friends’ healing and the even greater miracle of the forgiveness of his sins. Members of this prayer […]
What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him? Who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is […]
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” He replied, “What do you wish me to do for you?” They answered him, “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and […]
