Pope Francis broke me
Pope Francis broke me. I used to believe in a Church that was comforting. I loved exploring the depths and breadth of its teaching. I marveled at its grandeur. It was among those that also shared my beliefs and convictions...
Tagged: Gaudete et Exsultate
The Three Enemies of Daily Obedience
On October 22, 1939, less than two months after the German invasion of Poland, C.S. Lewis (the author of The Chronicles of Narnia) gave a talk on how to face the challenge of daily responsibilities during times of conflict. The...
“We must first belong to God.”
To commemorate the tenth anniversary of Pope Francis’s election to the pontificate, we are remembering some of our favorite teaching moments from the past decade. Mike Lewis “Everyone is in need of reassurance, and if we, who have touched ‘the...
“My grace is sufficient for you”
I get the sense from many Catholic preachers and pastors that they don’t understand human weakness. More than that, too often I have heard Catholic preachers downplay, or deny, the reality of mental illness, treating addiction as if it’s a...
Disagreeing with the Church
What do you do when you find yourself in disagreement with a Church teaching or objecting to a discipline that the Church legitimately imposes? Many Catholics find themselves in this place at some point in their life of faith. Some...
Prayer Is the “Breath of Faith”
Faith is the miraculous gift of God. In faith, we are reborn. Through faith, we are sustained by God’s grace. But how do we nurture faith? In a recent Wednesday catechesis, Pope Francis said, “We grow in faith inasmuch as...
We’re All a Little Dense
Can we all admit that we are often far less smart than we think we are? It’s not as much a matter pride or arrogance—although perhaps that’s part of it—but we often lack perspective and wisdom. Surely, we’ve had the...
Staying Online this Lent? 10 Tips from Pope Francis
Lent is a time that many Catholics choose to give up social media, but for those of us who stay active, Lent is a good time to rethink our online behavior. In the spirit of Pope Francis’s encyclical Fratelli Tutti,...
Responding to Charles Camosy’s open letter to the pope
Two weeks ago Charles Camosy, a professor of ethics at Fordham University, published an open letter to Pope Francis in which he asks the Holy Father to give defense of the unborn a “more central place” in his formal teaching....
The Self-Defeating Christian Commentariat
The lack of the unity in the Church in recent years has given rise to more than just a penchant for irrational scientific beliefs and moral dogmatism. It has also allowed the sin of vainglory to flourish and find new...
Theosis, Pastoral Accompaniment, and the Law of Gradualism
Back in January the Lord put on my mind and heart an idea for a theological essay that he wanted me to write. I don’t say that lightly here. Never before has something burned within me until I wrote it...
Masks Are Not a Symbol of Fear
Two recent viral videos that circulated on Twitter recently underscored just how divisive mask-wearing has become. The videos themselves might elicit embarrassment-by-proxy and certainly aren’t reflective of everyone who chooses not to wear a mask, but these videos are emblematic...
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