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.
Examination of Conscience Using the Beatitudes
I lead a retreat for middle school students and formulated a way to do an examination of conscience based upon the Beatitudes. One of the things that I try to do here at LayEvangelist.com is to renew moral theology. What better way to stand on the ground of the Beatitudes in a truly Christian morality than to prepare the soul for Confession.
THE BEATITUDES EXAMEN
1. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Does my desire for poverty of spirit match my lifestyle?
When I pray, do I only ask God for things, instead of for a closer relationship with Him?
Do I contribute my time, talent and money to the poor of the world? Or to myself?
Like a Farmer, Cultivate Prayer
Developing a prayer life that is personal, intimate, and powerful takes time and attention. In fact, anything worth having in this world takes time and attention. Like a farmer approaching new, wild land, the soil of our hearts and minds must be cultivated for prayer to bear fruit.
There is a lot of effort on the farmers part to prepare for growth. The rocks must be removed. The trees felled, and roots burnt up. The soil must be tilled, broken, and irrigated. Fertilizer needs to be spread, pests fought, and then the seeds are sown.
A Keynote Presentation, this time for the EDGE
We had a middle school night on the upcoming changes in the liturgy. What I wanted to do was build off of the idea of cultivating silence. So, borrowing from a night written for high school students, we did a "silent talk". I had one of my Teen Assistants, the wonderful Bianca, walk up to the stage, remove the microphone, set it on the floor, and as the room went dark the screen displayed the following 20+ slides.
