During the lead up to Christmas, we are inundated with numerous things to do. Gifts to be bought, cards to send, cookies and candies to bake, decorations to hang, parties, school pageants, and work celebrations to attend. The reality is that this time leading up to Christmas has become in our culture one of the most stressful and anxious times of the year—rather than being filled with hope and joy and peace! So what is the solution? Advent. The Church in her wisdom gives us the perfect solution to the craziness of the world because Advent is designed […]
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So, I went and saw the latest movie installment of the Fantastic Beasts series: Crimes of Grindelwald, AND then I proceeded to also devour the screenplay. Once again, Jo Rowling has conjured up a brilliant and satisfying tale that will be enjoyed by fans both new to the Wizarding World along with bona fide Potterheads. Crimes of Grindelwald is a fast paced story that contains plenty of revelations, but it still leaves you wanting more, so although there’s another 2 year wait for Fantastic Beasts #3, I think it’ll be well worth it if the next ride is as magical […]
This last weekend, a new book, The Smoke of Satan: How Corrupt and Cowardly Bishops Betrayed Christ, His Church, and the Faithful…And What Can Be Done About It by Philip Lawler, was released that I wanted to highlight for everyone, but especially for Roman Catholics. This book is an excellent and thought provoking assessment of the current state of affairs within the Catholic Church hierarchy For those who are not Catholic, I invite you to read it so you can be well-informed as to the issues within the Church rather than relying upon secular journalists and media outlets. I can attest […]
A few days ago, I wrote about how much I love November, and how this is a truly special time in the life of the Catholic Church. Particularly because it is a month when we celebrate the fullness of the Communion of Saints. We begin by celebrating all who have completed their journey and are in heaven with God on All Saints Day, and then we commemorate all the holy souls who have gone before us on All Souls Day, before spending the remainder of the month praying for those same souls. I have to admit, with the shortening of […]
Many times when people hear stories about people who are saints, like Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Pope John Paul II, or Maximillian Kolbe, the response tends to be, “Well, that’s great, but I could never be like them.” The reality is actually quite the opposite, as all the people throughout history who eventually became saints share 7 common characteristics that we can incorporate and practice in our own lives, too. Practice #1 Daily Prayer and Meditation “A soulthat does not practice the exercise of prayer is very like a paralyzed body which, though posessing feet and hands, makes no use of […]
Recently, I was sharing with a friend my excitement about the upcoming November 16th release of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. His response was very subdued, and when I queried him as to why, he responded, “I’m just not interested in seeing the whole Dumbledore-Grindelwald love story on screen.” I quickly assured him that I highly doubted that such a thing would happen, particularly since J.K. Rowling is the one writing the screenplay. Although my comments seemed to mollify my friend enough that he was willing to go see the movie, his reaction caused me to reflect that perhaps […]
Am currently traveling back from the V National Encuentro (which is taking far longer than I expected since my flight got cancelled and I was rerouted!), but it’s given me the opportunity to reflect and process on these last 4 days in which I was privileged to accompany 3,000 others from across the United States. For those of you who might be unaware, the Encuentro “process” was initiated more than 2 years ago by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops when they requested that the Hispano/Latino Catholic communities gather together to reflect, discuss, compile and then present the needs […]
Today is the conclusion of my series inspired by a conversation with Everett Fritz, author of the recently released book, The Art of Forming Young Disciples: Why Youth Ministries Aren’t Working And What To Do About It. Everett had just shared with me the methodology of “think small, to grow big” and although I understood why, I was wondering whether this process has proven to be effective. Instead of responding with a yes or no, Everett shared with me the story of Jan Tyranowski. Jan was a tailor in Poland in the beginning of the twentieth century. As a young […]
Today I continue sharing insights from a conversation that I recently had with Everett Fritz, author of the recently released book, The Art of Forming Young Disciples: Why Youth Ministries Aren’t Working And What To Do About It. After our discussion about the realities present in ministry today, how the current models of youth ministry in the Church are not meeting the needs of youth, and the shift in mentality necessary in order to be open to doing things differently, my next question to Everett was “What’s the first step if you decide you want to try and change how […]
Today I continue sharing insights from a conversation that I recently had with Everett Fritz, author of the recently released book, The Art of Forming Young Disciples: Why Youth Ministries Aren’t Working And What To Do About It. Everett and I had spoken about the reality occurring in the Church regarding the loss of young adults, and why that was happening—primarily, because the pastoral needs of young people are not being met within the current structures and practices of the Church, especially in how the Good News is being shared in youth ministry and catechetical programs. Religious education-based ministries—like a […]