I was very distracted during mass today. There were a number of things happening around me that made it hard to focus on what was happening at the altar. They were the typical things. The kids behind me were restless and vocal. The sign of peace was awkward. The music selections were questionable. I was [...]
Category: Reflections
Wait…It’s Friday
Many of us are aware that Friday is a "day of penance" in the Church and that, for a long time, Canon Law required Catholics to abstain from meat on all Fridays. If you know this, you probably also know that the Canon changed, and Catholics are no longer bound to this practice under pain [...]
Prayer and Discernment
We all have difficult decisions to make in our lives, and perhaps the most important decisions pertain to our vocations. In the beginning we ask whether we're called to marriage or the religious life. If we decide we're called to marriage, we wonder who we ought to date. If we start dating, we begin discerning [...]
Are You in Control?
Perhaps we're humble enough to admit that we sin. After all, the Bible is pretty clear when it says that "all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). The smallest ounce of honest introspection will force us to admit that we are no exception to the rule. We aren't perfect. [...]
The Morning Offering
What is the first thing you say each day? What is the first thing you think of? For most people, it probably varies quite a bit. Some days it might be, "what a nice morning!" Other days it might be, "this is going to be a very busy day." Most days it's probably something like, [...]
A Secret Little Room
I remember one afternoon I was walking to a college class alongside a friend. He confessed that he was bored, and he wasn't sure what to do with a couple hours of spare time that he had. With humor I said the following: "You know...I know this secret little room. It's over on the other [...]
Working Toward Heaven
Here is a big question: what is the purpose of working? It is an important question because work is something which we're all faced with, and it's also something we frequently dread. So why do it? What are we hoping to gain? We should get at the heart of this question and find an answer [...]
Five More Minutes! To Pray?
Most of us struggle to get up early. Perhaps you don't even bother trying. If you aren't forced to get out of bed for your job or school, it is pretty easy to shrug off the conventional wisdom which suggests there is real value in rising with the sun. I encourage you to reconsider. We [...]
So What If You’re in College?
It is no secret that God wants us to give freely to others...so what's the excuse? Think about that. The God of the universe, your creator, wants you to give some of what you have in charity. More than that, he has promised you an eternal reward for doing so (see Matthew 19:21). Most of [...]
On the Purpose of Baptism
For the longest time, if someone had asked me what the purpose of Baptism was, I would have given a pretty weak reply. I would have said something like, "it takes away Original Sin" or "it makes us children of God." These things are true in their own way, but such replies do not get [...]