We Are All Called to Lives of Holiness
How does God prepare us for the mission He has in mind for us? One of the ways He does this is by testing us. God allows certain things to happen in our lives to see if we will be faithful and endure what He is asking of us. He uses suffering, temptations, weaknesses, failures, …
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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 …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: Our Ego Keeps Us from the Greatness We Were Made For"
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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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 …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: Turning the Other Cheek in a Digital Age"
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 — …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: Christ’s Call to Love & Communion in an Age of Scandal"
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. …
Continue reading "The Answer to Division is Charity, Forgiveness, and Communion"
Many of us are still reeling from the report of widespread and decades-long sex abuse in Pennsylvania that came out last week. Compounded with the credible accusations against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, reports of corruption and sexual deviancy in our seminaries, and the continuing wave of priests who are coming forward reporting what they have …
Continue reading "Avoiding Wrath About the Sex Abuse Scandals"
One of the biggest struggles many Catholics face each year is how to financially support our parishes and dioceses, while also giving to the poor and needy, and providing for the needs of our families. This topic results in a wide range of opinions, some of them heated. The most recent sex abuse scandals, including …
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When I read Bishop Robert Barron’s Op-Ed last week entitled “Getting out of the Sacristy: A look at our pastoral priorities” a lot of questions immediately came to mind. I’ve read many of Bishop Barron’s books and I recently made sure that every member of our parish’s Evangelization Team, and both of our priests, got …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: To Evangelize the Culture, We Must Equip the Laity"
In the past few weeks I have come into contact--both in person and in social media--with people who have felt the need to lecture me on their individual learning in areas of the Catholic faith. I stepped in at a Catholic bookstore when a man was telling a woman in full communion with Rome that …
Continue reading "The Dangers of Isolationism and the Need for Holy Guides"
Swimming the Depths 