Jesus gave us many promises as he preached and taught during His ministry. The problem is we want to pay attention to the "happy" promises like "ask, and it shall be given to you." We have a bit more trouble hearing this promise to us from Jesus: "If they...
When I am at peace with the direction of my life I find that restfulness spills over onto those around me. But that makes perfect sense. After all, we constantly pray in the liturgy "For our deliverance from all affliction, wrath, danger, and necessity, let us pray to the...
Do you know the difference between a barrier and a threshold? It's actually quite an important distinction. The old saying goes "good fences make good neighbors" and there's no disputing that clear boundaries are necessary for relationships for there to be healthy communion between persons. But, what happens when a...
The ancient saying "The Unexamined Life is not worth living" hits home today in so many ways. Our society is being given a look at ourselves through the twin mirrors of a health crisis AND the brutality of those sworn to protect AND those who would burn down their...
All my life, I’ve dreamed of having some kind of superhero power. When I was a boy, I wanted to be like Superman and have the ability to run around the world really fast and pick up trucks, and stop speeding bullets. “Why,” you may ask. Because it’s cool!...
Today is the Feast of the Ascension, and this Feast begs the question: What is this whole ascending from the Mount of olives all about? Why didn’t Jesus just “POOF” disappear and go to the Father’s side? Why all these theatrics? It is almost axiomatic that any truth or tradition...
Christ is risen! Asking for help isn't really my strong suit. Frankly, I hate doing it. And I hate doing it not because of pride or ego, but because of fear. I'm afraid of appearing weak. I'm afraid of being vulnerable. And yet, most of the times in my life...
Christ is risen! “Hate” is such an ugly word. And yet I use it all too often. “I hate this traffic.” “I hate coconut!” ( I really don’t like coconut. I think it’s the texture.) “I hate that music.” You get the idea. But, sometimes, dark times, weak times I have even used that word...
Christ is risen! It actually was funny, but I had to get past my embarrassment first! You see, I had taken off my coat one winter day in Middle School and, lo and behold, I had put on my shirt inside out. All the kids saw it and started laughing....
Christ is risen! It's never been "popular" to confront our very prideful and "autonomous" societies with the exclusive teaching that the only way to God the Father is through Jesus Christ. In fact, most societies and cultures have reacted rather badly to this message from the Christian Faith. And yet the...
