The World’s Gospel vs. Jesus’ Beatitudes: Where True Happiness Is Found I believe it’s the inherent right of older generations to provoke a little cringe in younger ones. Recently, while visiting with our Confirmation students and discussing the gifts of the Holy Spirit, someone asked about my injuries. I saw my opportunity and told them,…
Purgatory: The Hospital of Souls Where They Learn to See On All Saints Day, we celebrate the triumphant Church in heaven—the saints, the martyrs, the holy ones who have cleansed their souls through the blood of Christ. We ourselves are not part of the triumphant Church yet. We call ourselves the militant Church, still on…
Ever since childhood, I’ve been fascinated by humanity’s inner desire to find meaning in everything around us. Throughout history, we have no record of any civilization, culture, or belief system that didn’t believe in an afterlife or maintain some structured form of religion—all in an effort to find meaning in life’s events. This desire seems…
Finding Redemption Through Suffering The last two weeks have been marked by the prevalence of violence in our news media and social media. A couple of weeks ago, we remember the incident of Catholic school kids at Mass. A few days later, videos started surfacing about an act of violence on a train. We just…
Several years ago, a Jewish psychologist imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps, made a profound observation that would later revolutionize our understanding of human suffering. He noticed that some prisoners died more quickly than others—not due to physical fitness, but for mysterious psychological reasons. One dawn, Frankl witnessed a group of men smoking their last cigarettes….
The Three Temptations: A Path Through Lent Like every Lenten season, we just started this one with fasting and abstinence. The Church suggests the same three spiritual disciplines for our Lenten journey every year: fasting, prayer, and almsgiving. There are many other spiritual disciplines we can adopt. Meeting with our young adult group, we discussed…
The Light That Guides Us: On Divine Desire and Its Call Throughout the liturgical year, light emerges as a powerful theme, particularly during two significant moments: the Easter Vigil, celebrating Christ’s resurrection where life conquers death and light overcomes darkness, and the Feast of Epiphany, marking the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy about a guiding…
As I’ve mentioned before, the Christian life is about learning to form our desires. The season of Advent emphasizes this even more, teaching us how to desire rightly. Yes, we need to learn to yearn. We need to learn to desire. As we approach Christmas, the figures of John the Baptist and others fade…
It’s common knowledge that we live in a time—in a society—of immediate gratification. We want our Google searches to show up in less than half a second. We want our Uber rides and Amazon deliveries to arrive right on time. We want the movie to start streaming the instant we hit the play button. This…
Young Catholic Professionals, San Antonio Advent Retreat Reflection Video Listening to the reflection, when the time comes, watch This video and come back Recommended Spiritual Reading for Advent Abandonment to Divine Providence (or Sacrament of the Present Moment), Jean-Pierre de Caussade, transl. John Beevers, Link Broken Gods: Hope, Healing, and the Seven Longings…
As I reflected on the time I have been assigned to St Peter’s and Our Lady of grace, I couldn’t help but feel a little melancholy. Time goes by so quickly! It slips like water through our fingers. Last week we celebrated Thanksgiving; in just four more weeks we’ll be celebrating Christmas, then New Year’s…
Online Lenten Healing Retreat: Christ Who Heals – Day 3: My Wounded Humanity. Reflection talks and centered prayer on our wounds in need of healing. Find some good earbuds and a quiet place to reflect and pray. He is looking for you. Move to talk on Day 1, or Day 2 …
