The Orant

I recently read through Patick Madid’s latest book Why Be Catholic. I was interested in the book, because it’s a question I feel I myself am always having to defend. Ever since I choose to join the Catholic Church there has been a non-stop sting of questions that all boil down to answering “Why be Catholic?” Madrid’s book tries to get the conversation going… that is where it really shines. In a mere 200 pages Madrid raises what I would consider to be the most compelling reasons for one to join th … [Read more...]

This week Fr. Longenecker posted a great response to a question about how someone can be active in worship. He stated  that those of us who worship as laity need not feel that we need to have some official role in order to participate but that:The lay faithful should join in with the words of the liturgy and join in singing the hymns–engaging their hearts and minds… When Mass begins you offer your attention. As the process comes down the aisle you offer yourself as the bride of Christ coming … [Read more...]

Over the weekend I attended #Wildgoose14 and had a chance to sit down and talk about my passion for ending hunger with the great guys at the "Moonshine Jesus" show. It was a absolute blast! I encourage you to take a listen to the conversation below! We also created a fun hashtag game... contribute at #firstworldhungerproblems … [Read more...]

A few years ago I spent a summer working as a hospital chaplain. It was one of the most challenging things I have ever done. Chaplains are rarely called when things are going well. They are called when something goes wrong in an operation. They are called when tragedy strikes. Chaplains are asked to escort people through death, and failure, and sorrow beyond words. They are called in when the vocabulary of medicine is unable to address the most pressing needs of a patient or family. Chaplains … [Read more...]

One of the major difficulties that people have with the Catholic faith is the role that saints play in the lives of individuals. This was certainly a major issue in my own journey to join the Church. I always feared that by emphasizing the saints that somehow I would be taking emphasis off of Jesus.This understanding missed the point. The Christian life is not a zero-sum game.In truth, the saints are Christ’s body extended through the church. They are a way we can meet Christ through the … [Read more...]

Although I am a Catholic, I never would have made it to the Catholic Church if it wasn't for a detour I took through the world Eastern Orthodoxy. The Eastern Christian Churches (in all of their many forms) have a rich history and liturgy that draw from deep and rich wells of the Christian tradition. I think those of us in the west have a great deal that we can learn from our Eastern brethren. Here is a list of tree things that I think every Westerner can learn from their Eastern … [Read more...]

 Even though much of my own theology is influenced more by Eastern theology than Western theology, I have chosen to remain a Western Christian and joined the Latin rite when I entered the Catholic Church. I remained a Western Christian because I am a child of the West, and I truly believe that God has done some amazing things in the West. I did not want to turn my back on the rich tradition and language that formed so much of my own identity and within the Catholic Church I learned to … [Read more...]

There are few things in the World that break my heart as much as reading about the tragic moments in the Church’s history that have caused schism. Perhaps the greatest wound the church has endured is the severing of its Eastern and Western lungs, the schism of the East from the West.For nearly 1,000 years, half of our history, the West has lived divorced from the wisdom of much of the Eastern Church, and Most of the Eastern Churches have lived divorced from the wisdom of the West. The wounds … [Read more...]