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.
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.
Address from Bishop Conley on New Mass Translation
You ought to read this address given by the man in charge of implementing the corrected translation of the Roman Missal into English for the Archdiocese of Denver, Bishop James Conley.
This is superb, properly framed in Catholic theology and liturgical tradition, and just down right inspiring.
Sing a New Song with Your Lives
Here are some quotes that are illustrative:
Let me say this: I’m very excited about the changes that are coming and about the opportunities we have for an authentic liturgical renewal. Practically speaking, implementing the new Missal means that all of us will be learning new translations of long-familiar prayers and responses. This makes it a perfect moment in the life of the Church for a new “eucharistic catechesis”.
Liturgical Catechesis
The new and corrected translation of the Roman Missal is coming at Advent to a parish near you. This means that the changes in wording, call and response, will be a difficult and lengthy process of adjustment. There are already a bunch of people who are angry that it is even happening at all. Catholic publications and secular press alike have expressed reservations or have outright attacked the new translation and warned against its widespread use.
I think such concerns are way overblown in every way except one. This could actually be a smooth transition, a teachable moment, and a great source of renewal in the English speaking world were it not for that one thing that concerns me.
I just don't think the Catholic Church in America is all that great with liturgical catechesis.
Heaven and Catechesis
Talking about Heaven is not all that fashionable these days, and I am not sure that Hell has ever been fashionable to talk about (except in the odd-ball crowds).
Recently, Rob Bell, a famous evangelical preacher, author, and all-around good guy, has caused some controversy with his new book, Love Wins, which many suppose he is positing a "universalist" view of the afterlife, which is just a fancy theological way of saying that, in the end, Hell will be empty and everyone will be in Heaven.
Whether or not it holds is outside the point of this post.
People have started talking about Heaven and Hell and their importance in communicating the Faith. I am loving this new conversation. Heaven and Hell are crucial in evangelization, and I want to share some thoughts on the matter.
I am a nerd for Catholic morality, made so by the works of Fr. Servais Pinckaers, a Swiss moral theologian who wrote the book Sources of Christian Ethics, whereby he placed the desire for happiness and the Beatitudes of Christ back in their proper place in Christian morality, which is prior to the Commandments.