6 Realizations About the Catholic Church to Help You Mature in Faith
6 Realizations About the Catholic Church to Help You Mature in Faith.
Follow Up to I Am Not the Pope and Neither Are You
Sinful anger is usually defined as the irrational desire for vengeance or the blinding of reason. There is such a thing as right ordered anger, or righteous anger. St. Thomas Aquinas discusses anger in the Summa Theologica and his argument can be found here. I want to focus on anger as it pertains to the …
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Struggling in Prayer
I have a confession to make: I really struggle in my prayer life. It tends to wax and wane. The minute I think that I have a steady rhythm going, I stumble and get out of the habit. I am amazed at how quickly it can fall by the wayside. I can slump quite easily …
Focus on Christ
I pulled this blog up from the archives. Grad school just started up again and I have family coming to town for a few days, so I won't have much time to write this week. God bless.
Dealing with Miscarriage Part III: It’s a Journey
It is National Infertility Awareness Week, so I am re-visiting a series that I wrote about my repeated miscarriages and secondary infertility. I hope it helps you. God bless.
When I started writing this series on miscarriage, I did not know where it would go. I just started typing. I let my heart do the talking and my fingers do the telling. A friend said to me that writing it down may be a form of healing for me, and I think that she is right. It has been a really stressful year for my family. We are at a point where we expect an emergency or tragedy every month. It has made it difficult for me to really grieve and heal from my most recent loss. Perhaps taking the time to share my experiences with others is helping. I do not write as someone who has all of the answers. Like most people, I am struggling through the questions, the doubts, and the pain. I have moments of clarity followed by moments of despair. This life is…
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Dealing with Miscarriage Part II: Grief
This week is National Infertility Awareness Week. I wrote yesterday about what it is like to be Catholic with only one child without even realizing that it is Infertility Awareness Week. Infertility comes in many forms from the couple who cannot conceive to people like me who have a child and then suffer repeated miscarriage. I know that many people suffer from the grief of miscarriage. I want to re-visit a series that I wrote on my own experiences and I hope it ministers to you. God bless.
Blessed are they who mourn; for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:5
Grief is one of the most difficult aspects of life. We are guaranteed that it will come our way. Most of the time it blindsides us. Grief in miscarriage can be lonely, deeply painful, infuriating, and cathartic all in the same day. The grief sets in when we are told that our child is dead or it may set in once the bleeding starts or stops, or it may take years for the grief to overtake us. Miscarriage is something that our society, and I hate to say it, the Church largely ignores. This is probably for a number of reasons. I would say some of it has to do with the abortion culture, some of it is privacy, and a lot of it is fear. Fear on the part of the family who has lost…
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My First Piece as a Contributor for Catholic Exchange: A Few Lessons from the Life of St. Bernadette
I am very happy to announce that I was asked to become a contributor for the popular Catholic website, Catholic Exchange. My first piece has been published today. You can start reading it here and then jump over to Catholic Exchange to finish and let me know what you think. God bless! A Few Lessons …
Recapturing Our Narrative: Living the Good News
Holy Week tends to be overwhelming. It is accepted and known by faithful Catholics that all of the dysfunction and evil in the world likes to still come out in full display during Holy Week, even 2000 years after the Crucifixion of Our Lord. Last week was no exception from mass slaughter of Christians in …
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Dialoguing Generations: Priests in Discussion
This is very good so I wanted to share it. I am dealing with a family emergency so my writing will be sporadic. Prayers appreciated. Happy Easter!!!
FB: Hey Fr. Chris! Are you busy?
FC: No Fr. Brook, what’s up?
FB: I wanted to pick your brain about a conversation I just had with one of my parishioners. Do you know Sara Smith?
FC: Sure, I was recently talking to her.
FB: She mentioned that. She came up to me and withdrew from the RCIA team and said that you had encouraged her to do so.
FC: *sigh* I didn’t exactly say that.
FB: What happened? She basically told me that after talking to you she felt unqualified to teach at RCIA. It should be noted that she gave me permission to talk to you about this.
FC: Yeah, she called me and mentioned you’d be stopping by – I wasn’t sure about what though… She was planning on teaching that hell does not exist or that one day nobody will be in it to the RCIA…
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Swimming the Depths 