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

Shall I call you my brother if you are not? Shall I call you a friend if we’ve never met? Of course not. But we in the Catholic Church call people our brothers and sisters who are not. Is this charitable or loving? Not in my book. So I will not call people who reject the Body of Christ, His holy Catholic Church, my brother and sister. This lie keeps them stuck in the lie they live. By telling them they are parts of the Body of Christ when they have rejected, directly or indir

During Mass today, several young men and one older woman were dressed very immodestly. When my housemate and I left, I said I was going to write a letter to our pastor and ask him to please remind people not to wear clothes that look like they have become part of their bodies. The guy's clothes were so tight that you could see things you should not be able to see on a clothed person. There was a woman at Mass who had on a sleeveless shirt that was cut down low between her bre

I have a friend in their 40s who still has part of their living expenses paid by their parents. I have another friend who is driven from place to place by friends, not because they are unable to drive, but because of fear. I have no doubt that my friends' parents and “the driver” think they are being helpful to their respective needy child and friend, but are they really? What does it mean to help someone? Well, the first definition that came up on Google is part of the probl

I remember when BlackBerrys were the new toy that everybody wanted. Cl ients would come in, showing them off to me, impressed by the technology and the ability to always communicate and carry all the information you need in a small handheld device. Many people thought it would free them up, but instead it became a shackle. Another tool used by some of those who employ us to steal away our lives. To steal away our free time. Many accept this is a necessary evil. I do not. I re

So, last night I finished reading my brother, AJ Benjamin's, book, When the Son Frees You . I guess it would be more accurate to say I stopped reading his book. The book was challenging for me in many ways, not because of any intellectual or spiritual challenge, but because I didn't want to hear some of what he had to say. Similar to the negative reaction I had to the conclusion of Paul Darrow's story at the end of the movie Desire of the Everlasting Hills(DEH) . In the movie

I recently began exercising again in an effort to get back into the pants I could fit into pre-pandemic. The instructor in one of the exercise videos I watched made a comment that is very relevant for those of us trying to live more disciplined lives. He said that we need to pay attention to our form in each exercise because if we start off with bad form, we will grow into it, but if we use good form, we will grow into it. This is a truth that I have lived by for many years w

When I first started telling people I was going to move in with my housemate Brian, the comment I frequently got was that I should “try it out”. I knew each time I heard this statement that this is at the same time a spirit of appropriate caution and the spirit of worldly compatibility. My response to this suggestion was always “No, I need to go into this with the attitude that this is a forever change in the way I live, or I will not be committed. If I know I have an out, I

I was speaking to my sister-in-law on the phone a few weeks ago. She told me how my father had started calling more regularly, and when he did, he would call to speak to her, my niece, or my nephew instead of just calling to talk to my brother. She said how much this meant to them. It made me a little sad, but I pushed that feeling aside because I knew it was because I don’t do the same. I do not doubt that if I were to say to my niece or nephew, "I would’ve called more often

Acts 7:51-8:1 “...Now Saul was consenting to his execution...” Saul said nothing to consent to the execution of St. Stephen. His silence spoke for him. We do the same in the silence we speak each day in the sight of blasphemies, wickedness, and atrocities. I was called gay starting in Kindergarten. The name-calling, queer, fag, homo, sissy, continued up until about 8th grade when I learned to defend myself with the sword of my tongue. Teachers stood by and said nothing as I w