We Are All Called to Lives of Holiness
Image taken from Wiki Commons. I recently started reading Bishop Robert Barron and John L. Allen Jr.’s book To Light a Fire on the Earth: Proclaiming the Gospel in a Secular Age. I’ve read quite a few of Bishop Barron’s more theological books and I own both the Catholicism series and the most recent Pivotal …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: Why the Culture Wars Don’t Evangelize Souls"
I came to the end of my day today and felt frustrated. I was irritable from the chronic hormone issues I battle and the poor dietary choices I made today. What we put in our bodies has a huge impact on our mental and physical well-being. The more I pay attention, the more I see …
Image taken from Wiki Commons. It is easy in our daily lives to discount the seemingly minor encounters or experiences we have throughout any given day. We are so busy going through the motions that we often forget to pay attention to where God is blessing us and showering us with His gratuitous love. He …
Continue reading "Looking Past the Monotony of Daily Living In Order to See God’s Gratuitous Love"
During Advent every year I try to imagine what it was like for the people of Israel as they waited for the fulfillment of the promises to Abraham, David, and the prophets. We live in a time after the Paschal Mystery, but we do still wait for Christ in the Second Coming. We approach Christmas …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: Christmas-The Light in the Darkness"
Image: Wiki Commons There is an adage in our culture that is prevalent in movies, books, even daily conversations. It is: "People never change." It is even quite common for Catholics to make this statement. If this is true, then we are all in trouble. Scripture and our Faith tell us otherwise. People deeply attached …
In our desire to convince people of the rightness of our position in certain matters, we can unwittingly lead people to believe that the spiritual life is meant to be easy. Far too often, we build things up with high and false expectations that damage the people we are trying to help. Instead of being …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: Easing the Loneliness of Stay-at-Home Moms"
I have been in active ministry for over ten years. I've had occasional breaks as my vocation has required, but I've worked with a variety of people and priests over those years. In all of my time serving in the parish and local community I have observed--as Pope Francis has said many times--that gossip is …
Continue reading "We Need to Stop Gossiping About Our Priests"
It is fitting that my daughter came to me on a dark November night. It is the month the Church remembers the dead and prays ardently for the poor souls in Purgatory. The days are cold while the trees shake off the last remnants of autumnal glory to enter into the silent deep of winter. November …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: Responding to the Painful Reality of Death"
I realize that I didn't post my Catholic Exchange piece from last week to the blog. Here it is: Our culture launches a brutal assault against men. It comes from two different fronts with seemingly contradictory attacks. The first is the radical form of feminism that has grown in prominence over the course of the last …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: Men Are in Desperate Need of the Church"
It happens to every penitent who frequently seeks forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance. We trudge, once more, to the confessional door and upon our entry, lament to the priest that we are once again confessing the same sins. It’s been a week, a month, a year, and it’s the same sins. We are tired …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: Healing the Wounds of Rejection"
Swimming the Depths 