• Have you ever had a saint “friend” you? Although I was born way back in the 1900s, I know that in our online world, to have a person “friend” you means they are adding you to their list of friends on a social media site, essentially including you in their social circle and expressing an […]

  • “Let’s allow ourselves to be ‘infected’ by the silence of St. Joseph.” -Pope Benedict XVI

  • The devil is a liar. But sometimes he tells the truth. A fisherman can’t just throw a line with a hook attached to it into the water and expect to catch any fish. He has to conceal the hook by pairing it with a shiny lure or a juicy worm. Likewise, the devil can’t just […]

  • “If we really understood the Mass, we would die of joy.” –St. Jean Vianney

  • Our parish used to have an associate pastor with a penchant for calling on people at Mass. It was well-intentioned, but that didn’t make it any less uncomfortable. Needless to say, the very front pews in his Masses were quite sparse. Our family usually planted ourselves somewhere in the middle of the church; close enough […]

  • “Sometimes in our lives, tears are the lenses we need to see Jesus.” -Pope Francis on the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene

  • When J.R.R. Tolkien wrote The Lord of the Rings, he gave us a vibrant metaphor for the Christian life. In many ways, we are all Frodo. We are all on a mission, called to take up our cross and wage war against evil and darkness. We’ve each been given a task only we can complete, […]

  • “Jesus gives me, at every moment, what I am able to bear and nothing more, and if in the next moment He increases my suffering, He also increases my strength.” -St. Thérèse of Lisieux

  • I love this time of year. As cliche as it is, there’s something about January that invites us to revel in possibility. There is so much potential and limitless opportunity. Unfortunately, too often I choose “all of the above.” And it’s not long before I’m an overwhelmed, stressed-out mess, resentful of my mile-long to-do list […]

  • “Let us run to Mary, and, as her little children, cast ourselves into her arms with a perfect confidence.” –Saint Francis de Sales