Take Up Your Cross Dear Jesus, in this season, as in many before, I have felt so distant from You. My cross can feel overbearing. While I should be grateful for my family, I am most commonly the opposite. I feel starved for attention and respite, bitter at the need to be constantly humble. I react with anger and impatience [...]
Pleasing Sacrifice Today is my 31st birthday and though I still believe I am young in my mind, my body is certainly feeling every year I add to my life. Gray hairs start sprouting from my beard, weird aches and pains come out of nowhere, and general forgetfulness or fatigue are all signs of growing another year older. Birthdays are [...]
Give Thanks to the Lord With All Your Heart It’s hard to believe, but summer is winding down already. It seems like just yesterday that the snow was finally behind us and my kids were actually ASKING to go outside, instead of us telling them to. It was as if the higher temperatures and sunshine beckoned us out to take [...]
When You Want to Shout at Jesus Have you ever shouted at Jesus? If you have, it was probably in the secret of your room, quietly in your heart, or in your car with the windows rolled up. More than likely none of us would want to be found running down the road screaming at Jesus, even if we were [...]
Awe and Wonder Ever since I was a little kid I have always enjoyed magic shows. I remember going to some shows with my dad and getting hooked on the idea of something happening right before your eyes that you can't really see. My obsession turned into a hobby of learning magic tricks and performing shows for area Catholic schools. [...]
Surprised by the Kingdom of Heaven Every few years or so the discovery of lost treasure troves makes the news. As technology has improved it has become more common that gold coins, gemstones and priceless jewels worth millions of dollars are found in sunken ships that sailed the seas hundreds of years ago. Finding lost treasure requires a lot of [...]
The Vineyard of Faith Today’s Gospel message is one that I struggle with quite often. I find myself saying, “I got here first” or “I’ve been waiting longer”. Sometimes I ask myself, “I’ve worked harder and longer. Why am I not reaping the same benefits or rewards and someone else who has not worked as hard or as long as [...]
More Than Just Storytelling On the surface level, it may seem like Jesus teaches in parables only to make complex ideas accessible to all people. While there may be an element of that, Jesus explains clearly in today’s Gospel that reaching every audience isn’t His primary goal. In fact, He explains that the parables fulfill the words of the prophet [...]
Taking the Time to Rest I’d like you to take a moment and trace the past week of your life. Other than sleeping, did you take any intentional rest? We just finished the Independence Day holiday here in the United States. If you live in the US, did you squeeze in every last bit of work in the office before [...]
Why So Much Talk About Death? Death is a scary thing. Even with all the medical advances and prescriptions that we are blessed with in the 21st century, we still fear death. Stories of people dying much too soon seem to take up news feeds and Facebook pages. Death is not something that most of us are comfortable with, and [...]