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.
7 Reasons Why You Should Not War Over Christmas
The last few years saw a lot more hype about the War On Christmas (cue exciting news channel montage) then this year, it seems, as previously Christians by the truck load were complaining about their local store not saying "Merry Christmas" as they completed their financial transaction. On this, I would like to make a few comments. (Or you could just ignore what's below and head over to EyeoftheTiber.com and read this hilarious fake news article.)
First. Dear businesses of the Western Hemisphere, you're welcome. You are very welcome for the Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, the God-man, of which an integral part of that celebration is the giving of gifts to one another. You are welcome for the fact that many of your businesses are in the red until a massive purchase frenzy ensues to prepare for Christmas giving. Enjoy the fruits of our celebration.
apathy, half-way houses, and the revolution of faith
Pope Paul VI ignited the flame of Catholic evangelization with both Vatican II and "On Evangelization in Our Time"A Conversation with My Cousin
Recently I had a conversation with my cousin who runs a pro-life ministry helping unwed pregnant mothers who are in broken situations to find a home and a life. He does amazing work and has helped heal a lot of lives and saved a lot of babies from the abortion mills of Houston, Texas.
He was asking me about the in’s and out’s of being a Catholic lay evangelist and how it was going. “Too often,” I told him, “Catholics are so busy catechizing- which means taking a person deeper into the mystery of Jesus Christ- that we overlooked the fact that they have never, ever been invited to fall in love with Jesus in the first place. That initial proclamation and invitation just never happened.”
“I never heard a Catholic talk like you,” He said to me. “My parents left the Catholic Church because no one mentioned having a personal relationship with Jesus.” The practice of the Faith was just mechanical, mindless, and culture-based.
I don't evangelize. I'm Catholic.
Intro: I got it all wrong
Evangelization, evangelism and evangelical are all pretty much Protestant words for most American Catholics today. I considered myself one of those Catholics for a while. Catholics did not preach on street corners, did not pass out pamphlets, and did not knock on doors to spread the Gospel. If we did anything, the most we did was toss in the collection plate a few bucks on Mission Sunday in order to donate to those religious orders who were taking the Gospel to strange lands on the otherside of the world. Not the average pew-sitter's vocation.