Sometimes God wants us to forget, and sometimes God wants us to remember. Danny Haag tells his testimony in the book God Can Use Others to Save You. “I had abused alcohol from the age of 13 to 19,” Haag said. “The last straw occurred when I was in Monterey, California for basic training when I was 19. Like many times before it, I was getting drunk again with a buddy, and we got so drunk we couldn’t find our... Read more
Pope John Paul II is the “Pope of mercy.” This comes through very clearly in his 1980 encyclical Dives in Misericordia. Pope John Paul II practiced mercy throughout his life. He lived through two totalitarian regimes yet never learned to hate. Six months after publishing his encyclical on mercy, two bullets from attempted assassin Ali Agca’s gun nearly ended his life. He showed his mercy was real when he visited the would-be murderer in jail and pardoned him from the... Read more
Our recent Duke Catholic Center mission trip to Cancun was both a service trip and a pilgrimage to holy ground. The first thing we did was visit the shrine of Our Lady, Undoer of Knots. This particular title of Mary, the Mother of God, has come into vogue under the papacy of Pope Francis. While he was studying for his doctorate in Germany, he was able to visit the original chapel in Regensburg and afterward took the devotion back to... Read more
Perhaps you have been in prayer and wondered whether God is talking to you or if you are just supplying “God’s voice” with your own thoughts. If so, you are not alone. One of the earliest challenges in building a spiritual life is coming to terms with the fact that we undoubtedly will interject our own thoughts and feelings into prayer. To prevent confusion, let’s discuss three ways we can tell if a thought comes from God or from our... Read more
Jesus went into the desert to pray (Mt. 4:1-11). There, He faced the Devil’s temptations, fought against them, and emerged victorious showing us what it means to overcome spiritual trials. He chose to experience human weakness so that, in our hardest moments, we could find comfort in Him. As we begin Lent, we are invited to walk this same path through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, drawing closer to Christ. Lent is a forty-day season of repentance, renewal, and preparation for... Read more
Do words shape reality, or do they reveal it? In a world flooded with media, political spin, and online debates, the way we employ language carries enormous weight. If words create reality, we risk losing the truth entirely. But if language reveals reality, we must use it wisely, ensuring it reflects what is real, not just what we wish to be true. What Creating Words Might Look Like It makes me think of a scene from The Voyage of the... Read more
Are Christians supposed to be nice? Is that what it means to turn the other cheek? Sometimes, we can understand that to be a Christian is to be a doormat. We think that to be Christian means to be nice and to be tolerant of all others. While today’s Gospel (Lk. 6:27-38) might seem to support this idea, it is a misunderstanding of Christ’s teaching. Christian love goes beyond niceness to a deeper call of sacrificial love and truth. Ancient... Read more
What does it take to become a saint? Sister Clare’s life gives us some clues. I first heard of Sister Clare Crockett while traveling throughout Germany, promoting my religious congregation, the Legionaries of Christ. I heard about a young Irish woman who beamed with the joy and love of Christ that was welling inside her. The idea of meeting her was always an intriguing invitation, but I never quite got the chance. Beginning the Journey towards Sainthood This past November,... Read more
P.T. Barnum was a man who seemed allergic to boredom. The musical “The Greatest Showman” tells the story of his resulting rise from rags to riches. Despite his adventurous and boisterous life, even he faced monotony at times. I am particularly struck by the song in the musical “Never Enough,” which explores his yearning for something that feels just out of reach. Wanting to escape an uninteresting existence, he clings to a fragile sense of happiness. I’m trying to hold... Read more
Jesus preached salvation to all. This is the basis of Catholic teaching that all humans are equal in dignity. This reality shapes the way that saints throughout the ages have seen the world. This is clear in the case of St. Therese of Lisieux, the well-known Carmelite nun of 19th-century France. Although she lived confined to a cloister, she felt at the same time a profound missionary impulse. At one point, she decided to pray for a man whom... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In