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.
a stumbling block for the Revised Roman Missal
I was at a gathering of ministry leaders the other day and I found out why some people had such a huge resistance to the new Roman Missal English translation. The sad thing is, it is all based on a huge misunderstanding, which means there is an opportunity for solid catechesis.
First thing's first, the people who were angriest were the oldest. They represented the mid-60's and older crowd. Not a single young adult or middle-aged person was upset about this third revision. As I noticed this, I began asking some questions to them as to why they were angry.
That's when I discovered the huge misunderstanding.
mission and confidence
The message of Christianity is one of self-distrust. You cannot do it on your own. We hate hearing this because we feel like it denies or limits our power. "I have the power" we say to ourselves, "I'm confident I can do this, build this, become this." Jesus doesn't think so.
Confidence is a compound word meaning With Faith, to have faith in one's own ability to accomplish, to succeed. The gospel tells us to stop having confidence in ourselves. We cannot accomplish. We cannot succeed. Apart from Christ, "you can do nothing."
I said this is a part of the gospel message, which means that it is supposed to be "Good News". How is this good news? Are not the greatest and most powerful among us men and women who had confidence in themselves, who excelled in their abilities?
New Podcast series
Veni, Sancte Spiritu! Come, Holy Spirit!
This is the theme for Life Teen, Inc., and thus for all their Summer Camps. Last week I was priviledged to host a whole week, delivering the HS as best as I could. The fine folks at the camp (looking at you, J.P.) recorded many of my talks and turned 'em into mp3 files so that I could share with you all through my podcast just what I have been up to.
The first one is the opening talk of the week, so there is a lot of invitations being extended to people who may not want or be ready for a relationship with the living God. We go easy on them because we don't want to push people away right off the bat. Faith is a big deal. We ought not to assume that everyone is open and ready to "go deeper" or "lean in" to it.
Dangerous, Stupid, and Hilarious
Here are some photos of what happens when silly people take over the liturgy. These pictures were taken at a cathedral in Austrailia in 2008. I got them from a blog on Oz's liturgy. The post was entitled Gospel with a Double Sommersault and Pike - Degree of Difficulty?
They were just too funny to not post. Followed are some Cardinal Ratzinger quotes on the liturgy.
