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.
Day Four: Joy of Compassion
Introduction to the Joy of Compassion
The next two Beatitudes are built upon the previous three. In humility, repentance, and meekness, the Christian is being cultivated to serve and love his neighbor. The Commandments might have outlined in a negative way the bear minimum of what justice demands, but the radical love of Jesus Christ pushes us further still.
The love of Jesus Christ moves us to compassion as it moved Him to the compassion of the cross and resurrection. Compassion is another interesting word that comes to us from the Latin. Cum means with, and passio, means to suffer. To experience compassion for someone else is not to feel sorry for their pain, but to suffer with them.
These two Beatitudes- hunger and thirst for justice, and being merciful- are not contradictory. Justice and mercy are not at odds with each other, but in the Person and example of Jesus Christ, they form the Joy of Compassion.
Day Three: Joy of Humility
Introduction to the Beatitudes
The rest of this week is going to be focusing on the face of Christ revealed in the Eight Beatitudes, taking a few at a time in order to really understand them.
Christian morality is about following Jesus Christ. Too often, however, when we hear about “Christian” morality, all we hear is the Ten Commandments from the Old Testament. The Commandments tell us what to do/not do. The Beatitudes tell us who we should be, what type of disciple Christ wants of us. We ought to start morality with the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount and not just on the Commandments. They come second, because Identity and Destiny come first, which is what the Beatitudes unfold for us.
Day Two: Joy of Eternity
Introduction to Our Joyful Eternity
No one normal ever really likes talking about Hell. It’s unpleasant, sad, negative and is hard to deal with. But what’s really odd is that no one is really talking about Heaven either! Imagine a whole bunch of people on a bus talking to each other about their journey, but no one mentions the destination. They go on and on about the trip, about how hard it is, funny things that happened along the way, why they are on the trip to begin with, without ever mentioning the point of getting on the bus in the first place, the destination. Yet, that is what happens when we don’t think about, speak about, and desire Heaven.
However, when we stop and think about Heaven, about the promises and rewards that Jesus Christ pledges to those who love him and have faith in him, then how could our hearts not be overwhelmed with joy? We do not deserve this Heaven. It is freely given by the God Who is Love.
Day One: Joyful Identity
The Subject of My Own Life
We need to focus on the “I” that is the subject of this journey. Who am I and what am I? If we don’t answer these questions, then “where am I going and how do I get there?” just don’t matter. We need to stop and really dig down deep into these questions. You and I need to think about this stuff, using the gifts of our own brains that God gave to us, so that in prayer we can wrestle with these big issues. These are the fundamental questions of our Identity: Who am I? Who should I be? Who am I becoming?