Comfort can be derived from many sources. It might be measured by the number of zeros in a person’s savings account, or in the size
I recently watched a movie about the life of St. Joseph of Cupertino, the Franciscan friar and mystic famed for levitating while praying or offering
After roughly three years of public ministry, Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a mountain and revealed His glory to them. They had spent
Hardship is not pleasant. It creates discomfort in our lives. It inconveniences our plans. It discourages us, causing hesitation and inaction. Yet, properly understood, hardship
It has always struck me that the Lord started His life’s work at such a young age and died a mere three years later. There
On July 2, 2014, I walked into Santiago de Compostela, the Camino de Santiago, completing five hundred miles of pilgrimage with great jubilance and much
The haunting glow of fiery lava lights up the night sky near our house. The ever-moving lava has been visible like this for just six
A few months ago I started reading a book entitled, The Heavenly Man, about a certain Brother Yun, who became “a great fighter and a
If you try to help a struggling butterfly emerge from the prison of his cocoon, his wings will be permanently deformed. As a butterfly struggles,
When I was 13, I joined the Jr. High Chorus at my local public school. It was the mid-‘70’s and songs about teaching the world
Unimaginable Loss Tragedy struck our family in February of this year. My 47-year-old aunt Jeannine, with whom I was close, committed suicide during a night
I sat down intending to write about joy. It’s one of my favorite topics, and I’m rather fond of the emotion itself. I’ll choose it
A Superficial View of Dad and Me I recently talked by phone with my 91-year-old Dad. He is in a nursing home, thousands of miles
” Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. ” Matt. 5:7 Over the years I have experienced God’s Divine Mercy and protection
One of the greatest compliments of Thomas Aquinas was that he was often better and more persuasively able to explain his opponents’ arguments than the
From the first moment of birth we all experience suffering. A doctor rips a newborn child from a comfortable, warm, and familiar setting. Naked and
Several places in Scripture tell us that Jesus was troubled or worried, or experienced grief. John 11:33: When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews
We must all pray for Divine Mercy. God’s mercy is infinite, as St. Faustina tells us. God hungers for us to turn to Him in
In Part I, we discussed a common misunderstanding of suffering among many Catholics. We looked at a specific type of suffering involving persecution. Now let’s
“Just offer it up!” It’s an iconic reference that’s become a Catholic spiritual cliché. Dollars to donuts, it was your Mom’s response when you complained
Like most people, throughout my life I have experienced very many offenses against me, ranging from the great to the small, whether it was the
My sister Mary has dementia. I have been caring for her for about four years now. Dementia is an affliction that is difficult to deal
