Start here.
I have written here since 2010 on evangelization, parish life, Scripture, apologetics, and the moral life. These six are the best place to begin.
Go Home and Live as Missionary Disciples
If your faith feels humdrum, you may not have entered the mission yet. A talk to men on what that asks of you.
Formed By Distraction
Eliot described minds pulled from one distraction to the next. We now carry that in our pockets. What is it forming in us?
What Is a Catholic?
A plain answer: who belongs to the Church Christ founded on the Apostles, and what holds that Church together.
Why You Need Your Men’s Group
Before asking whether men’s groups work, ask what problem they are meant to solve.
Why Protestants Are Becoming Catholic at My Parish
What draws evangelicals and mainline Protestants into the Catholic Church, as they told me in class.
How God Speaks in Human Words
The first of four articles on how the Bible is at once a human book and the Word of God.
Is God Disappointed in You? (Part 01)
Enough talks deal out the facts, but do not challenge people to actually change. They aren't practical teachings, but technical. The information transfer itself is seen as good enough, and people are expected to change their lives because now they know the facts. I have grown to resent the lack of challenge and praxis in many of my own talks. After all, most people are not on a truth quest. Most people are on a happiness quest. But the Church keeps dishing factoids and expecting change to happen. Praxis, change, challenge- these things need to be woven into the very heart of a presentation, especially for those that are a part of a Parish Mission!
It is the heartfelt desire of every evangelist to get people to respond to God's call in their lives. The response to God is the key; not the hearing, but the doing. Response.
My last brainstorming session started with a single question: How are people responding to God's love? I came up with five basic responses to God that shape everything else in our lives. There is denial, avoidance, rejection, earning, and reception. Then I focused it on the three central responses and began to research each one, looking for the one way to tie it all together in a meaningful, personal and challenging way. Then I realized clearly what that was: dads.