From my pastor’s homily this weekend: “Either a Christian heightens the quality of human life, making it more palatable, more delightfully nourishing, or else he
One of the things that I often ponder is the relationship between the Christian and wealth. That is, how much wealth should I accumulate, how
A common methodological error of novice apologists is proof-texting (yes, Catholic apologists are just as guilty of this fallacy as our Protestant brethren). Proof-texting can
I tend to be a very introspective individual. My spiritual life consists largely in self-examination, and used to be even more so. I would look
I was giving a talk at my home parish on the early Church when a woman came up to me. Pointing at her heart she
In college I went to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. I am not much of a science geek so I
Children have minds of their own. They do their own thing and love to find ways to become their own person. This makes it difficult
Well, the Hail Mary is a historical and biblical phrase addressed by an angel of God to a virgin called Mary. This historic event is
When my fiancé and I were still just dating, we approached our priest and spiritual director and asked him how we might discern if we
My training is in Classics. That kind of nearly obsessive focus on grammar bears some peculiar fruit in my day to day life. For one,
The other day I was at daily Mass when I saw a woman praying a rosary throughout the Liturgy. I was upset, but not just with her; I was upset that we don’t pay enough attention to the beauty of the heavenly liturgy.
Let’s talk about awkward for a minute. How about when your family is talking about the wedding someone just went to: the flowers, the ceremony,
Since Feb. 28, 2013 — the last day of Pope Benedict’s papacy — I’ve been harboring a secret. A secret I’m ready to share. I
By James Franke I’ve heard the argument a hundred times, phrased a hundred different ways. It all boils down to the same basic mentality: short
To receive Communion… that is the question. I was recently confronted about this, at a parish I
Expounding on the importance of our actions for salvation is, I suppose, my primary “thing.” I have been in so many informal debates over the
You’ve graduated from college, found yourself in your (dream) job and find that taking the time to pray just isn’t as easy/conducive as it was
Before I left for college, I wrote about how my tendency to control and plan every aspect of my life often hurt more than it
By now, a lot has been written about the recent controversial interviews of Pope Francis – what the media think he said, what he actually
Due to many scheduling conflicts a few Sundays back, I went to Mass by myself without the wife and kids. Over the past month or
Jesus Christ, the model par excellence of evangelization, turned over tables and called spiritual authorities “vipers”, but in regards to the world around Him he
