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 once heard a woman lamenting about her “shelf life”. I had never heard that expression before and I asked her to explain. She said that men find women less attractive as women get older. Therefore, women have a limited time in which to find a suitable mate. If they get too old, they will […]
One morning I walked into Mass very distracted and anxious. I had many things on my mind: projects due at work, challenges with the kids, financial pressures, dealing with the ex, etc. On top of that, I wasn’t feeling well. It was hard to focus on the Mass. Frankly, I was just going through the motions. […]
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 […]
With the season of Lent upon us, I find myself looking to Jesus as He suffered such a violent death for love of us. He has so much to teach us, especially about truth. Let’s consider the eleventh station; Jesus is nailed to the Cross. We may find it difficult to relate to Him and […]
There is the darkness of divorce, and then there is Jesus. He is just the opposite. He is the light. He is the dawn. He is the new day. His light drives away the darkness of fear, sin, and doubt, filling you with hope and the promise of better days. You no longer have to […]
“This generation is always looking for a quick fix.” spilled out of my mouth as I was sharing some parenting challenge with a friend. I was smug in my surety that I was different–that I was older and wiser. But the truth is, I’m really not. In fact, I think most people, no matter their […]
“I love you, Daddy-O,” my 19-year-old daughter said to me as she hugged me goodbye. She then climbed into her car to drive the five hundred miles to the Naval Air Base that would be her home for the next six months. She had been home on leave for about ten days, and we had […]
One evening, I was leaving a meeting at my parish, and was pulling out of my parking space, when I stopped dead in my tracks. I had just realized that I walked out of the church and forgot to make a visit to Jesus. In every Catholic Church around the world, Jesus, in the form […]
I was sitting in my seat (right-hand, aisle, thank you very much!), engrossed in my magazine, when I heard a man say in a rather loud voice, “Excuse me, Ma’am!” Startled, I looked up to see a very overweight man in the seat one row up trying to flag down the flight attendant. When she […]