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.
evangelization, the youth, and the Theology of the Body
Today I am giving two talks to the youth of Connecticut at their second annual "Youth Explosion" rally. I'm joined with the ever-talented Ike Ndolo Band, who I have never worked with before, but have run into in the ministry field many times.
I was asked to present to the teens in two thirty minute talks an overview of Pope John Paul II's famous Theology of the Body (TOB). Now, these talks spanned years and fill up a rather large book, and have produced book shelves full of commentaries trying to understand and apply his ideas.
...and I have two thirty-minute sessions to get it all in.
Evangelization always being my thing, I want to approach this talk from that perspective and not just give them a thorough check-list summary of TOB's main points. The catechesis needs to be there, but it needs to be framed through the lens of invitation, linked with a basic proclamation of the Gospel, and shown that this is the path to human happiness.
(article) human love in the divine plan
If there was one essential point to the Theology of the Body that Pope John Paul II gave in his Wednesday Audiences over the period of five or so years, that I could distill out and give to you today, it would be this: the whole human person, soul and body, is caught up in the beautiful drama of love and life.Love is more than just feelings, than a stirring of the senses and the thrill of physical touch. It is so much more than that, but it sure wouldn’t be the same without all that! God did not create us to be angels, but man, male and female. We have bodies, with goose-bumpy skin, responsive nerve endings, and hormone tidal waves that could overwhelm a giant.
But not Pope John Paul II, a man who never knew the marriage bed. He tells us the truth.
The Professional Church: leadership (part 2)
Intro to Leadership
The first principle from the private sector is leadership. The second principle is effective team building. Both go hand-in-hand. In a small operation like a parish (even a mega-parish) every hire needs to be a leader. You cannot afford to hire non-leaders, even if they are not in “Director” or “Coordinator” positions. And just because someone is ordained by the grace of God in the sacrament of Holy Orders that does not automatically make them a good, effective leader.
Leadership is a topic of so many nauseating business and self-help books that it is a little frustrating to sift the good content. I sought after books authored by, or written about, men and women who proved their leadership in the arena of for-profit work, not just those who make a ton of money selling self-help leadership books and giving seminars. This way I avoided empty-headed, nice-sounding rhetoric about leadership and immersed myself in the praxis of real world principles, tactics, and examples.
Blessed are the peacemakers...
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” Matthew 5:9
It is hard to talk openly about war being just or unjust while your own country happens to be in the middle of one (or two, or five). But, hey, if Christianity were easy, everyone would be doing it.
War is a tricky thing because, though most of the humanity’s dark history is filled with unjust and evil wars, every single one of those wars had people cheering them on, justifying them with all sorts of clever rationalizations and emotionally charged propaganda.
That means we Catholics need to be on our A game when it comes to this whole “Just War” idea, so that we are not caught on the wrong side of God’s desire for peace and thirst for justice.
St. Joseph: man, husband, father
Today I was greatly honored to speak at a St. Joseph's Table celebration where people gather to honor the name and patronage of Saint Joseph (especially over Sicili, where this tradition originated) by sharing a meal together and offering alms to the poor. I was asked to prepare a short talk on the saint, so I poured over some scholarly, theological, and devotional texts in order to offer the best that I could on the man whom I am proud to name one of my closest patrons.
Joseph, of the House and Family of David
Little is known about Joseph from Scripture. He is named "a righteous man", living according to the law of God. He is of the tribe of Judah, of the "House and family of David," which means that he stands within the secret and sacred bloodline from King David on down to Jesus. The last Davidic heir who sat on the throne had his sons killed and his eyes blotted out, then was carried off to slavery, never to be heard from again. The last thing he saw was the end of the Davidic lineage.
However, as God is one to do, He preserved a remnant, a worthy lineage that continued on in the humility of permanent de-thronement. They would be born, raise families, work jobs, knowing all the while they were supposed to be kings. But none would ever rule.