When I first read the Holy Father’s 2018 exhortation on holiness, Gaudete et Exsultate, I was deeply struck by his criticism of contemporary Pelagianism, one of two “subtle enemies of holiness” that he addresses. Pope Francis’s teaching challenged so much of...
On June 23, I will celebrate twenty-two years of ordination to the priesthood. Born in 1974, I belong to what Catholics fondly call the John Paul II generation. In this brief essay, I will reflect on how the experience of...
The Bible Project shared a podcast last year that focused on the story of the manna in the book of Exodus. In chapter 16 of Exodus, God’s people are in the desert, just a few days out from crossing the...
“And recently we held a flash sale and gave all the proceeds to Planned Parenthood,” my interviewee recounted proudly. “Because I support women’s rights.” The old familiar sadness welled up in my heart, paired with professional restraint, and I carefully...
There is a growing realization that Christians need community. As Pope Francis wrote in Fratelli Tutti: “No one can face life in isolation… We need a community that supports and helps us, in which we can help one another to...
Do you know what white meat is? Of course you do! It’s the edible flesh that comes from poultry. At least, that’s what it means in modern English. If you were to travel back to England the 1400s, however, “white...
Recently, Michael Sean Winters published an article entitled “How will a synodal church embody the virtue of obedience?” He shows that the Paschal mystery is accomplished through the obedience of Jesus, and indeed, the Church itself exists in through the...
In late July 2021, I attended Mass at Our Lady of Peace Parish in Santa Clara, California, with my teenage family members. I literally and figuratively grew up at that church as my mom worked as a secretary there for...
“Christ is Risen; he truly is risen!” Pope Francis spoke these words to an audience of over 100,000 in St. Peter’s Square on the morning of Easter Sunday, 2023, encouraging the faithful to believe in the message St. Mary Magdalene...
Friends, I don’t know if you noticed, but we all walked into a bare Church. Silence greeted us. The altar is stripped of all its decorations. It is a skeletal altar that confronts us with the reality of death. God...
Contemplating the human experience of Christ’s first followers can help us to better understand his ministry. I find that we often take the lives of the apostles for granted whenever we recount a scene in the New Testament, be it...
Popular Posts