We Are All Called to Lives of Holiness
As Christians, our lives and our relationships are meant to be different from the prevailing culture. We are witnesses to Christ crucified and risen from the dead, who is the cause for our joy. As the Mystical Body, the communion we share with one another is one of the ways that we are able to draw …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: Evangelizing Through Christian Friendship"
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"
A few years ago, when The Benedict Option was becoming popular in certain Christian circles—primarily through the writings of Rod Dreher who is influenced by Alasdair MacIntyre—I was initially intrigued and drawn to this approach. The culture was, and continues to be, in a downward spiral. Anti-Christian sentiments and policies continue apace throughout the Western world, while …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: Re-Thinking the Benedict Option in Light of Lumen Gentium"
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"
Image taken from Wiki Commons. As I scroll through my social media feed looking at the day's news, I am struck by the sheer commonality of the sin of presumption on display. It appears that far too many of us--myself included at times--do not understand Our Lord's admonition that we are not to judge other …
Continue reading "Leading People to Christ Rarely Begins with Teaching Sexual Ethics"
A good friend of mine from high school died recently. It was a tragic death. This was not at all surprising to me because I worried that he would meet an early and untimely death. He died at the age of 37. The sadness and grief I feel are even greater because I knew deep …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: Evangelization and Reaching the Broken"
A Trump victory, if anything, only slowed down the speeding train of our secular culture. Lord willing, Catholics and other like-minded people will be given a reprieve after the last 8 years of open attacks and vilification by the Obama Administration and his fellow ideologues. Christian businesses have been destroyed, sisters working to help the …
Continue reading "The Election is Over: It’s Time to Stop Being Lukewarm Catholics"
In a Fallen world where suffering abounds: What is the Christian answer to suffering and uncertainty? What is it we have been given in the face of pain, sorrow, uncertainty, and agony in our lives and the world? The answer is the supernatural virtue of hope. The Christian life is one lived in hope, no …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: We Rest in Hope, Come What May"
A little over a week ago I reactivated my Facebook account after a year away. I have one of those personalities that gets easily sucked into the news feed. I have been watching the news since I was 5 years old, so old habits die hard. My problem is I become immersed in it. It …
By now most of the world knows that this is an election year for the United States. It’s hard to miss the constant reporting at an international level. This piece isn’t about the election. It was inspired by the election, but it is meant to be about something deeper and more long-term than a single …
Continue reading "Catholic Exchange: Holiness is How We Transform the Social Order"
Swimming the Depths 