In 2005 while undergoing chemotherapy, I was sitting in an uncomfortable recliner on the sixth floor of the medical facility. An IV dripped poison into my veins that would simultaneously cure me of the cancer in my body, and wreak havoc on it, sending waves of nausea, chills, malaise. The concoction did not discriminate between healthy and cancer cells. It […]
Charity
God and the Coronavirus
"Christ the Consolator" (detail) by Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834-1890) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
How many times have you heard people say, “If God really exists, why does He let people get cancer or brain tumors?” Or, “If there really is a God, why does He allow wars and famine?” Or, “Where is God when we need Him most?” Well it occurred to me during this time of the world-wide, coronavirus pandemic called Covid-19, […]
Life-Changing Lessons from St. John the Baptist
“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’” (Matthew 3:1-3) St. John the Baptist is […]
Remembering What’s Important
“In the end, a life that radiates His truth, His love, and His glory is going to do far more to spread the kingdom than an argument on Twitter.” A friend emailed me recently, after finding out that his friend had left the Church. I look forward to his emails – they’re strikingly perceptive and usually make me either laugh […]
The Search for Meaning and Purpose
Does Life Have Meaning? What is the meaning of life? This a question each of us asks, sometimes without any awareness at all. The search for the meaning of life has filled books throughout history. At heart, we are all philosophers searching for meaning. At heart, we ought to love wisdom, but too often we play the fool. The book of […]
Discover What Jesus Teaches About Prayer
Why is there so much interest in prayer and yet so little praying? Discover what Jesus teaches us about the essential qualities of prayer. In my parish ministry and work around the archdiocese, one of the questions I receive most frequently is like the question posed to Our Lord in Luke’s Gospel, “He was praying in a certain place, and […]
Daily Catholic Quote — Pope Leo XIII
“Still, when there is question of defending the rights of individuals, the poor and badly off have a claim to especial consideration. The richer class have many ways of shielding themselves, and stand less in need of help from the State; whereas the mass of the poor have no resources of their own to fall back upon, and must chiefly […]
Daily Quote — St. John Vianney
“All our religion is but a false religion, and all our virtues are mere illusions and we ourselves are only hypocrites in the sight of God, if we have not that universal charity for everyone – for the good, and for the bad, for the poor and for the rich, and for all those who do us harm as much […]
About Social Justice and Evangelization
While I was in Chicago for the Christmas break, I had a wonderful meeting with around thirty young Jesuits, all in their “pre-tertianship” period of formation. This means that these men had already passed through their lengthy education in philosophy and theology and had been involved for some time in a ministry of the Jesuit order. The group I addressed […]
Daily Quote — Blessed Paul VI
“In the social sphere, the Church has always wished to assume a double function: first to enlighten minds in order to assist them to discover the truth and to find the right path to follow amid the different teachings that call for their attention; and secondly to take part in action and to spread, with a real care for service […]