From an e-mail I wrote today to a reader who commented that my “Journey Home” interview encouraged him as he mourns the loss of his daughter: It says in Scripture, in more than one place, that love is stronger than death; love never dies. Several years ago, I began to contemplate what it means to say that love does not die. I am still contemplating it, as I love many people who have passed on. The truth is that whatever... Read more
Here is the video of my interview on “The Journey Home” that premiered last night on EWTN, in which I share my conversion story with host Marcus Grodi and also talk about the message of my book of Catholic spirituality for adult victims of childhood sexual abuse, My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints. I am deeply thankful to Marcus, his producer Scott Scholten, and everyone at the Coming Home Network, which produces... Read more
Tonight’s the night that my interview for “The Journey Home” airs on EWTN, in which I share my conversion story with host Marcus Grodi and also discuss the message of my book of Catholic spirituality for adult victims of childhood sexual abuse, My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints. Go to EWTN.com to check the network’s schedule to see what time it will air in your area, or to watch it online.... Read more
Found this classic SCTV satire on YouTube and had to share it. If you have seen any of the films it parodies—”Becket,” “A Man for All Seasons,” “Cromwell,” “The Lion in Winter,” etc.—I don’t recommend drinking anything while watching. I laughed hardest when John Candy, lifelong Catholic, ad libbed some actuosa participatio. Read more
Over at the Christopher Closeup blog, Tony Rossi has posted the podcast of the interview he did with me. The link to it is at the bottom of his post “A Sexual Abuse Victim’s Efforts to Be a Conduit to the Light of God and the Saints.” Tony’s interviews are known for their depth and substance, so I’m particularly grateful or the opportunity to share the message of My Peace I Give You with his listeners. Read more
Today is the day the Dominican Order celebrates its deceased members. As a lay student at a Dominican school of theology, I am observing it by praying for the repose of a Dominican priest I never knew, whose life and writings are an inspiration: Father Thomas Heath, O.P., a Massachusetts-born friar who was fatally injured by robbers in 2005 in Kisumu, Kenya. He was 84 and had devoted the last quarter-century of his life to African mission work. A Microsoft Word... Read more
“[If] you watch any TV at all, spend any time on the Internet, or just shop for groceries or deodorant, it’s virtually impossible to avoid having in-your-face titillation imprinted on your brain. “And purity? Who talks about that these days? Who (especially in secular culture) even knows what it means anymore? And ads like the one that Lena Dunham made for the Obama campaign, comparing first-time voting to first-time sex, imply contempt for anyone who considers sexual purity to have... Read more
“The whole [Catholic] teaching about sexuality is rooted in the complementarity of the two sexes. For me, that is fundamental. We think about this alphabet soup that’s out there–‘LGBTQ’ whatever. But the ones that matter are, in the alphabet, M and F!” — Daniel Mattson, from his courageous “Catholic Answers” interview that is now available to hear or download online. Daniel, who supports the Courage Apostolate, is also the author of the thought-provoking First Things article “Why I Don’t Call... Read more
“Tears acquire value when they are not merely expressive of superficial emotion, but arise from the heart—a motus proprius of the soul, expressing interior grief or joy. Only such tears have a voice, a voice inaudible to the physical ear, and yet so powerful that it reaches God’s throne. … “[The founder of Hasidic Judaism, Rabbi Israel, said:] ‘When the faithful enter [a house of prayer] to implore earthly goods, their prayers become like doves wrought of lead and painted... Read more
… in the Eucharistic Christ. I wrote in My Peace I Give You: Catholic funeral masses always remind me of Matthew 28:6: “He is not here; for he has risen.” They place you right on the fault line between the “now” and “not yet” of redemption. You walk past the casket of your dead loved one, knowing that it contains only her body; she is not here. Then the priest gives you the Eucharist, and you realize your loved one... Read more
Feast of Eden
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