Recently one of my closest friends came to me to confide a very devastating situation that she had been made aware of regarding someone else. She was stunned and understandably shocked. Like most of us, she wanted to know how people could fall into such deep dark places with little or no remorse. It's the …
Catholic Exchange: Our Ego Keeps Us from the Greatness We Were Made For
Our souls are expansive. They are able to reach depths that we cannot fully fathom. When we begin to see this part of ourselves we often experience fear and awe. We do not know what to do with this part of ourselves because we are often blind to it in our daily lives. We are blind …
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Helping the Person God Puts in Front of Us
As Christians we want to help people, or at least, we should want to help people. We see a world that is spiraling out of control. The darkness is growing. New York State legalizing abortion up to birth is a testament to the bloodlust that humanity cannot seem to escape no matter how "civilized" we …
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Catholic Exchange: Turning the Other Cheek in a Digital Age
The Internet and mainstream media have been set ablaze with the latest outrage that seems to be manufactured every five minutes. Each side rushes to judgment and paints the other group as the villain. Meanwhile supporters canonize the person or persons they agree with and the vitriol reaches an intensity that should startle every person …
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The Way of Love
In the Mass readings right now we are working our way through my favorite epistle, the First Letter of St. John. It will play a key role in aspects of the book I'm working on. If there is one word that describes this letter it is love. The Beloved Disciple whose deep spiritual friendship with …
Catholic Exchange: Christ’s Call to Love & Communion in an Age of Scandal
As we begin a New Year with the Church embroiled in ever deepening scandal, we all must ask ourselves: What can I do in response? What can I do in the face of so much evil, incompetence, injustice, and lack of charity? The solutions are difficult and will take decades — if not centuries — …
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Catholic Exchange: When Advent Feels More Like Lent
This time of year can present challenges to all of us as we approach the Christmas season. More and more Catholics are trying to slow down and enter into the period of waiting and preparation in the Advent season. As the secular Christmas season continues to spiral out of control, a lot of people are …
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Come Christmas, Don’t Shoot the Messenger
Sacred Scripture is filled with unlikely messengers. Men and women who are never the "right" messenger. They are too old, too young, too male, too female, not from the right town, not a priest, they are a priest, not a king, they are a king. There's always something wrong with them according to their listeners. …
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The Answer to Division is Charity, Forgiveness, and Communion
Image taken from Wiki Commons I've been spending this Advent trying to enter into stillness and waiting. I am very bad at both. I'm a person of action, so being told that I'm to sit still and wait for God's mission for me has been difficult. It's felt more like a wrestling match than stillness. …
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The Cross: The Answer We Don’t Really Want
The entire litmus test for this life is the very one we don't want. It's love or charity (caritas). It is the very meaning of our lives. It is what grounds every moment of every day, but even as we say it's what we want, we are also repelled by it. Why? Love always costs …
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Swimming the Depths 