through him, with him, and in him
A couple of years ago, when I was still in seminary, we were assigned to parishes over the summer. Â I got assigned to a medium sized parish with a couple of resident priests. I befriended a Jesuit priest. Every night after having dinner, we would enjoy a glass of wine and talk about theology, the […]
Some weeks ago I paid a visit to the Car Wash. They received my car, gave me a ticket, and invited me to sit down in a small waiting room area. I found a seat in the waiting room, which was empty apart from a man and a woman sitting together; I pulled out my […]
Today we celebrate a great feast of the Church, the solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. It is the biggest of the Marian feasts, and its mystery is derived from the mystery of the Incarnation, that God willed to become man, and more specifically, as the second reading said, that He willed to be […]
Twice throughout the Liturgical year, we pause in a moment of silence, while reciting the Creed. These are the commemorations of the two occasions when God personally intervened in human history in an exceptional way: the birth of Christ and the death—and resurrection—of Christ. In today’s Gospel we explore the mystery of the Word becoming […]
I’m convinced that the biggest crisis of our times is a crisis of hope. It has been said that we live in an era of fraud. There are many kinds of fraud: Many of us are aware of financial fraud, like the mortgage crisis of 2008 in which the selfishness and ambition of a certain […]
A local fitness center was offering $1,000 to anyone that could prove they were stronger than the owner. Here’s how it worked: the muscle man would squeeze a lemon until all the juice ran into a glass, then he would hand the lemon to the next challenger. Anyone who could squeeze out one more drop […]
Leprosy is a terrible disease. In the modern world we have it more or less under control, but in Biblical times leprosy was an extremely serious matter. Leprosy is a bacteria that infects the body and starts rotting away the extremities; it is very contagious, so much so that in Biblical times it was required […]
One of the perks of wearing the roman collar in public is that I get to have the most interesting conversations in the oddest of places, even in the cereal aisle of a supermarket. I was looking at cereals the other day, and from the corner of my eye I saw someone pass by, and […]
The great author G.K. Chesterton said the following words: The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder. As Christians, we can sometimes fall into the danger of losing our wonder about the story of Christianity. We cease to marvel at the glory of a Father who goes to […]
Newscasts have learned to rely on a number of phrases to capture our attention. They start with “Don’t leave, when we come back, the danger of using too much salt in your food!” move on to “The frightening truth of sitting down for too long” or “What you may not know about the water you’re […]
Throughout human history, the most common form of government has been monarchy. Monarchy offers several benefits: you can act quickly, and if you have a wise king, you can also act efficiently. Of course, the catch is that you have to have a wise king. If the king is selfish, or capricious, then you’re stuck […]
It is amazing to see how much we can learn about human nature by observing our children. A year ago my sister gave birth to a baby girl. Something very interesting occurred one day when I was visiting. My Mom was holding my baby niece in her arms and they were embracing. One of my […]
