“Vocation does not come from a voice out there calling me to be something I am not. It comes from a voice in here calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given me at birth by God.” – Thomas Merton It was the morning of the Rite of Election, a special step of affirmation in the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA). And I was eager. After all, I was... Read more
“And we must look far deeper into the soul of man for the thing that produces friendliness.” – G.K. Chesterton It seemed quite simple. They hoped to become new friends. A summer day in 1908 found Henry and William stopping to say hello to their new neighbor, G.K. Chesterton. And Chesterton was a nervous, but thoughtful host. Renting a vacation home in the small town of Rye in East Sussex, the thirty-four year old journalist and author anticipated spending time... Read more
“Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.” – G.K. Chesterton. Dear Jesus, do I need Advent. I just do. Living in the upper Midwest during the melancholic waning days of fall, begrudging the early arrival of snow flurries and enduring the bone-chill that summer had (mockingly) made me forget, I need Advent. You see, I am predisposed to what Winston Churchill once called “the black dog”. The black dog is an ill-defined woefulness that can gnaw at you at... Read more
“The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the World War by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” – Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister It... Read more
Several years ago, there was a terrific game called “Scruples”. Everyone wanted to play it. It was quite clever, really. To be sure, Scruples was more complex than your traditional board games like Monopoly or action games like Pictionary. Instead, what was essential to playing the game of Scruples was a fundamental understanding of exactly what “scruples” are. The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes a “scruple” (as noun) as “an ethical consideration or principle that inhibits action”. As verb, Merriam-Webster defines “scrupling”... Read more
I guess you might be able to say there were signposts along the way. Perhaps. A good friend of mine describes them as delayed “Epiphanies” – those striking moments of great importance that you somehow miss and can only recognize in retrospect. Yes, it seems they were there. But, whether called signposts or epiphanies, there was clear evidence along my life’s path. I was being called to Catholicism. Born and raised Lutheran, faith was a central part of my upbringing.... Read more
“All human nature vigorously resists grace because grace changes us and the change is painful.” – Flannery O’Connor I didn’t care for it the first time I read it. No – let me rephrase that. The first time I read it, I was repulsed by it. Flannery O’Connor’s writing had been recommended to me from a close friend. A southern Catholic fiction writer, Mary Flannery O’Connor lived with her mother, raised peacocks while writing two novels and just over two dozen short... Read more
“Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders have rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” – Matthew 21:42 “I ask myself: ‘What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What should I do for Christ?’ “ – Pope Francis Six months. That is all it has been. Six months. And Pope Francis has clearly made his mark. Elected... Read more
“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 18: 3-4 “There is no such thing as a stupid question.” My professor looked at me as he said this. Smiling and reassuring, he invited me to proceed with my question. I had heard this before – the famous “stupid question” line. We all had. And here... Read more
I had never been through it before. And when it came down to that last moment – a moment to say goodbye, I didn’t handle it as well as I thought I would. I choked up. With a small line behind me, my two young daughters clinging to my legs, and my wife beside me, I literally began to cry as I said goodbye. Father Michael Reding, my parish priest, was leaving. And it wasn’t easy for me. Father’s departure... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In