City of God 2:27 “... The whole city learned in public both by the words and gestures of the actors. They saw that the gods delighted in the commission of these things, and therefore believed that they wished them not only to be exhibited to them, but to be imitated by themselves...” We all learn through example, unless we have been given, by almighty God, the ability to see past example. When we see virtue and discipline, we tend to imitate them. This is not necessarily beca

Today is Good Friday. The day Jesus, who had already sacrificed by lowering Himself to take on human flesh, made an even greater...

Back more than a year ago, when the initial stay-at-home order ended, DC Mayor Bowser made a comment in relation to worship service and Mass that was not the beginning of, but revived a feeling in me that a line had been crossed in our view of our own bodies, minds, and spirits, and those of our fellow man. She said something along the lines of, “We will allow worship again.” This ruffled my feathers. Feathers that were already ruffled by a few other statements and incidents.

One of the plants in my bedroom needs to be transplanted. It no longer bounces back to life after I water and feed it. I do not enjoy transplanting, so I avoid it, and the plant continues to live in a droopy state. Getting the plant out of the pot in one chunk without tearing it apart is difficult. Soil ends up everywhere. After transplanting, the plant often goes into a bit of shock and droops even more than before. So is life. We often avoid change because it is messy, espe

My housemate and I discussed his rough day at work yesterday before our night prayer. Afterwards, he was obviously agitated. When I asked why, he said it was partially due to my “communication style,” which “lacks in empathy.” Empathy means understanding and sharing another's feelings. Empathetic means showing this understanding and sharing. So, according to these definitions, I do have empathy: I understand and sometimes share others' feelings. Where I struggle is in how I s

As we walked into Mass this morning, my housemate Brian moved anxiously to make sure he got hand sanitizer before entering the church. I snickered. He said, “What?” angrily, and I said, “Nothing.” My sense of humor is a gift from God, but as with all other gifts, it must be exercised appropriately and with discretion. I often laugh at things that make me uncomfortable, and I admittedly find it funny to make others uncomfortable with my sense of humor sometimes. This means som

I have a problem with buying books and with holding on to them rather than sharing the goodness in them with others. I imagine our Lord saying to me: 'These books you cling to are nothing. Emptiness. The emptiness I want for you is everything.  Fullness. Poverty is My gift for you and My Church.' How disappointed He is to see her members reject it. 'I've spoken so clearly yet I am ignored. By those in positions of power and also by the sheep. Poverty is not an option, it is n

Last night, as I drove home, the sun and clouds in the sky were beautiful. I was following my drivevangelization routine, driving in a way conducive to Catholicism's call to be obedient to the laws of men, so only going 65mph. As I admired the beautiful sky, a car flew past me, and I thought, what a shame they will miss out on the beauty because they are rushing about like Lazarus’ sister Martha. I was reminded of my own personal call to slow down from when I was not working

Intimacy is what the Lord wants for us. Intimacy that can only be had through the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist. In our weariness in the war for truth, we deny the many “few” who seek Him the true intimacy required to spend eternity with Him. This is the price of our leaders' weariness, and so of our own resulting weariness. We retreat from the battlefield of truth and so allow error to enter onto the path that leads to eternal life with Christ. The path use

Weariness is dangerous. It opens the door to, and sometimes leads us through it, into decisions and behaviors that are contrary to what is best for us and for others. Victory or compromise are common outcomes of war, but the end of a war, due to weariness, can leave the war's rationale unresolved and lead to insecurity and instability. The opening to the book “The Pope Benedict Reader” from Word on Fire states, “ Weary of the somewhat tired scholasticism that dominated Church