Pope Francis has left us a fairly extensive body of writings, speeches, and homilies to pore over and learn from, but so far seems to be promulgating encyclicals at a slower rate than either of his two previous predecessors. In...
What does a completely divinized culture look like? Will everyone pray the Divine Office? Will they go to Mass daily? What liturgy will be celebrated? What clothes would be acceptable to wear in everyday life? The idea of a culture...
Humility can only take root in the heart through humiliations. Without them, there is no humility or holiness. If you are unable to suffer and offer up a few humiliations, you are not humble and you are not on the...
I’m too young to have known John Paul II. He died before I cared about Jesus, let alone the pope. Benedict was pope during my conversion at the end of high school and during college. But I was too deeply...
I am truly fascinated by conversion stories because conversion is predicated on a reorientation of the heart itself, a fundamental change in how one sees and approaches the world that may require shunning close friendships, family, and careers. As a...
In his Sunday Angelus this week, Pope Francis returned to a topic that he’s discussed many times, one that hasn’t received as much attention as more “controversial” subjects related to doctrine and moral theology, but is central to his papacy...
My oldest son, Simon, turned six earlier this month. I remember the afternoon we were getting ready to take him home from the hospital. I stood there holding him, absolutely terrified that the nurses would actually let us leave the...
As I said in my last article, sometimes we can find treasures of deep Christian wisdom hidden in the thoughts and writings of highly secularized and even anticlerical people. Today, I would like to present you one of the most...
One thing that has always struck me as bizarre is how sometimes outsiders to the faith seem to have keener insights on how the faith works, or should be working, than Catholics allegedly in good standing. Sometimes, when atheists or...
“Holiness consists in a habitual openness to the transcendent.” When I was younger, I often thought of prayer as more or less a mental exercise. I don’t even think I called it prayer, but it was about the closest thing...
“We must move toward an idea of truth that is evermore inclusive, less restrictive; at least, if we are thinking of the truth of God and not some human truth, however solid it may appear to us. The truth of...
«They that are well have no need of a physician, but they that are sick. For I came not to call the just, but sinners.» — Mk 2:17 (DRV) Since Jesus Christ in the above Gospel quote, sickness has been...
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