“For they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead.” (John 20:9) On Good Friday, the impossible happened. God Himself was executed by His creatures. On Easter Sunday, this same God, our Lord Jesus Christ, rose from the dead, victorious over the power of the grave. In so doing, […]
Lent is a season of prayer and fasting, a time for conversion of the heart. As in all things, the Christian looks to Christ’s example and seeks his grace to be able to follow him. To look to Christ means, first, to see and hear him in the Gospel. We will hear Jesus ask us […]
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 […]
In When You Suffer: Biblical Keys for Hope and Understanding (Servant Books, 2015), Jeff Cavins tackles the difficult question of why a good God allows us to suffer and what we can do to make that suffering have value in our lives. He defines suffering as anything that makes our life less than ideal, so […]
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 […]
Thousands braved severe weather last week to attend the March for Life in Washington, D.C., giving a vital public witness to the sanctity of life. In this column, however, I will reflect on a very personal situation with my wife’s first pregnancy six years ago, when abortion was presented to us as an option. Our […]
Jesus’ prayer in the 17th Chapter of John is often referred to as the High Priestly Prayer. In verse three we read “Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.” In the past, I have plowed through this verse without giving […]
I crawled into the bed with Kristi and we lay together all afternoon talking and laughing. We talked about everything under the sun: our childhoods, our hopes and dreams, our disappointments, homeschooling, our faith, our husbands, our children, and her cancer. It’s been a year ago already and I can remember everything about that day. […]
On a retreat some years ago, several of us were spending time in prayer together. Each man in the circle took a turn at sharing with God and the rest of us in the group an intention or request or thought that was weighing on his heart and mind. There was talk of family members […]
On Tuesday morning (May 19), a few hours before my mom, Madge Eisenbath, underwent brain surgery, I went to 7 o’clock Mass at my home Catholic church. I knew my family was in for a challenging time, so there was no better way to prepare. Little did I know … In the first Scripture reading, […]
There is so much suffering. Homeless men, women and even countless children on the sidewalks of our cities. … Refugees from war-torn Syria and numerous African countries. … Immigrants fleeing dangerous circumstances in Central America and risking everything to sneak into the United States. … People whose lives are turned upside-down by drug abuse – […]
Having spent most of my life as an atheist (I converted just 13 years ago), I have a good basis of comparison for the difference between Catholic and non-Catholic life. And without a doubt, these seven things are WAY better now that I’m Catholic! Reprinted with permission from CatholicSistas.com. 1. WEEKENDS My husband and I spent three […]
There are the plans we make, and then there are God’s plans. Sometimes, they line up. Take for instance last week. I thought I had it all figured out. Easy trip to the airport with one small caveat, the necessary requirement of bringing the old family dog into the friendly skies. Never having done this […]
“The Word became flesh” (John 1.14) is a central tenet of Christian truth. It’s what Christmas is about ? not some little fat man in a red suit. Jesus is the Word that became flesh. The Incarnation: God made man. It is a unique and singular historical event so significant that the universe rejoiced. Saint […]
Dear Brittany Maynard, You don’t know me, and sadly, I don’t know you. I have something to tell you. Why should you care what another voice among millions is saying? Because I have good news. Like so many, your story has crashed into my world, just as cancer crashed into yours. As expected by your […]
I am a daughter of aging parents. While I don’t know the day or the hour, I know that the time is coming when I will need to walk with them on their final journey home. Death is part of life, and as a Catholic, I understand that it is the doorway to a different […]
In the great treasury of music, I keep finding myself coming back again and again to Beethoven. You may think it’s because he was one of the greatest composers who ever lived despite his deafness. That is true, everybody loves great music and everybody loves an over-comer. But there’s something more that keeps drawing me […]
The recent canonization of Saint John Paul II offers an impetus to reflect on both his life and his papacy. The Pope’s leadership of the Catholic Church was exemplified by his signature phrase “Be not afraid!” Yet, what exactly was he exhorting the faithful to face without fear? Pope John Paul II first uttered this […]
A number of months ago I accepted a request to speak at a Baptist church about an hour and a half drive from where I live. They asked me to speak about the rising acceptance of euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada, and my Christian perspective about suffering. Unfortunately as the date drew nearer, this […]
There are few things as toxic as envy. Schadenfreude, envy’s cousin, is close. To envy means to mistrust Jesus. It is to say, in effect, that God has erred in what He has given you, where He has placed you and what He has made you. When I am the object of someone’s envy, I […]
Hey, where are you going? It’s not Easter, yet. “Stay a while. Do not hurry by the cross on your way to Easter joy, for we know the risen Lord only through Christ and him crucified.” (Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, Death on a Friday Afternoon). Jason Hall reminds us that, “It is common, and entirely appropriate, for us to […]
This past weekend I met four other people with multiple sclerosis. It was not by design. I met them at events that had nothing to do with MS or disability. The uncertainty of the disease is terrifying them all. Multiple sclerosis can take a benign course and cause very little disability or it can take a […]
My father’s generation knew the Holocaust of the Nazis. The holocaust of abortion and soon euthanasia and assisted suicide hangs over mine. Nazi propaganda Minister Josef Goebbel’s guiding maxim was “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will come to believe it.”[1] The Lie was of Aryan superiority and their […]
He is alone in the dream. The stink of the jail cell dissipates and the smell of the seashore plucks at the man’s memory. He stands alone on the seashore. Small waves kiss the shore, like some nervous school girl who knows she shouldn’t but kisses a boy anyway. He thinks of the waves, then […]
