About the time I decided to become Catholic, I was at a charity dinner party with my wife and her parents. It was a fairly upscale event where everyone dressed in a nice suit or elegant evening dress and enjoyed a multiple course meal. We were having an especially good time, because Lindsay and I had learned only a few weeks earlier that we were going to be parents. And then suddenly, between courses, everything changed. Lindsay began to show signs of a miscarriage. Her parents rushed... Read more

Either a short time before or after my conversion, I was sitting on the couch with Lindsay watching an episode of The Colbert Report. The featured guest that night was Gerry Willis, and he was promoting his new book Why Priests? A Failed Tradition.  (I’m not going to discuss or debate the contents of this book, because honestly I haven’t read it.)  It’s interesting that on that night I happened to see that particular episode, because the question the title... Read more

When I first began attending Mass, I noticed Catholics always genuflected (bending one knee to the ground while crossing oneself) before entering a pew.  It was over a year before I understood the significance of that gesture. Every week at Mass, as one united Catholic family, we receive Christ through the Sacrament of the Eucharist.  This is, without a doubt, the most crucial part of our worship. Unlike most Protestant services, which builds to the sermon, the Eucharist is the... Read more

On August 6, 2011, I stood at the front of my parish and watched as my future father-in-law escorted my beautiful bride down the aisle.  Outside of the birth of our son—a year and some months later—the day I married Lindsay was the happiest of my life. At the time I was not yet Catholic, but marriage was something I had always considered to be sacred and holy. As I came into the Church, I learned about marriage as a... Read more

On May 18th, 2013, in front of my closest friends and family, I held my two-month-old son, Timothy, as he received his first sacrament — Baptism. Given his aversion to bath time, I was a little worried that this first step in his Christian initiation would bring about one of his more impressive crying fits. However, as Father recited the prayers and poured the holy water over his head, Timothy remained perfectly calm and content — as if he understood what was taking place. It was a beautiful and... Read more

Before my conversion to Catholicism, I had a HUGE problem with (what I thought was) the Sacrament of Reconciliation — better known as Confession. I cringe when I recall how short sighted my views used to be, but much like every other aspect of Catholicism, when I began to actually study and learn about the doctrine and beliefs of the Church, I realized how truly misguided I was. (You’re probably going to hear this mea culpa from me a lot in future writings so go ahead and be... Read more

The sense of community found in the Catholic Church attracts and intrigues me. Within my parish family are some of the most loving, accepting, and faithful people I’ve ever had the joy of knowing, but the sense of community I’m talking about stretches far beyond the walls of my church. At mass I feel connected – not just to God and those in the pews next to me – but to every Catholic on Earth and even those who have... Read more