Living the truth of our faith can be very difficult. We are all guilty of trying to modify a teaching of our faith to make it easier to live. It could be the Church’s teaching on sexual morality, or marriage, or receiving the Sacraments. Unfortunately, when we do this, it stunts our growth toward holiness and […]
I came across a picture today that I had received of my nephew on his first day of second grade. I was struck by his radiant smile and eyes shining with pride, purity, and eagerness as he faces another school year. He is being raised by his grandparents. Their adult daughter, my nephew’s mom, has chosen a very […]
When I was a kid, my parents would allow me to ride my bike two miles to a nearby river where I liked to fish. One day, I decided to take a shortcut that a friend had told me about. The further I went down my new path, the more anxious I became. The river […]
When my son was in preschool, I often brought him into the Church after class to pay Jesus and Mary a visit. With a hushed voice and galloping feet, he made his way down the aisle to the tabernacle to blow a few kisses to Jesus in hope to make His sacred boo-boos feel better. […]
In an effort to appease my not-so-religious spouse, I had to temper my enthusiasm for my Catholic Faith. One compromise I made was to delegate Mary to the back yard during the years of my marriage. She had been placed in a beautiful garden, but I always felt sorry that I had felt compelled to […]
I dropped the letter in disbelief on to the kitchen counter. It was a copy of an affidavit that had just been filed with the court by my former spouse’s attorney. It was full of out-and-out lies about me. I had come to expect the torrent of falsehoods coming from my former spouse, so that […]
I was putting my son to bed one evening, as I often do, and I was laying next to him joining him in his evening prayers. When we were done, I reached over, kissed him, blessed him, and told him goodnight. He replied, “Goodnight, I love you.” I then replied, “I love you more!” He […]
Fr. Larry Richards tells a very powerful story of God’s abundant love. The night before he was to be ordained a priest, he was wrestling mightily with the vow of celibacy he was going to have to take the next day. It was not the sexual temptations that were causing him the greatest struggle. It […]
I want you to stop what you are doing and clear your mind for a few seconds. Good. Now, think back to the greatest gift you ever received in your life. What was it? It could have been a special toy that you really wanted for Christmas, but thought it was impossible for you to […]
I bet the guy (Mr. Murphy?) who came up with Murphy’s Law went through a divorce. How else could he have known how to so perfectly describe what going through a divorce is like? Ol’ Murphy said: “Everything that can go wrong will go wrong at the absolute worst possible time.” Yup, that sounds like […]