The Resurrection of Jesus that we celebrate on Easter calls us to have hope in the greatest goal of our lives: attaining joy in heaven forever with God. “Joy is the serious business of heaven”, wrote C.S. Lewis. The Resurrection of Jesus is not only the cornerstone of our faith, it is an invitation to a joy that this world cannot offer and too often forgets. We believe we long for pleasure and comfort, but deep down, we hunger for... Read more
Does God Suffer? Christ chose to suffer on the cross. This challenges our understanding of human existence since suffering challenges and changes our understanding of the world. In July 1943, a terrified fourteen-year-old boy watched helplessly as thousands of bombs fell on his hometown. He and his friends had been conscripted only a few months earlier to operate an anti-aircraft battery built on a platform in the middle of a lake. With their radar jammed, their gun was useless against... Read more
Today, on Palm Sunday, the Church gives us a curious liturgy. We go from jubilation to suffering. In a single day, we commemorate the Triumphant Procession of Jesus into Jerusalem and his ignominious death on the Cross. The Crowd’s Contradiction We hear the crowds shout joyfully, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest (Lk. 19:38). Later, in the Gospel of the Passion, we hear the crowds shout... Read more
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
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