Same Lent, Different You It’s a blessing that Lent happens every year. It makes me think of hearing a song you loved when you were younger. Or picking up a book you read years ago. The song can take you back. It breathes some youthful life into you, remembering bygone days. There’s nostalgia in it. Familiarity. Rereading a book is similar yet different. There’s still familiarity, you know the story,…
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A Formula for Prayer This week is Catholic Schools Week, and it’s made me reflect on those lessons that stick with you from your school days. I think of the scientific method—a practical tool we probably don’t realize we use every day. We make hypotheses, test them, adjust. It’s become second nature. What if prayer could be like that? I recently came across a cheat sheet I’d made years ago…
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Christ Comes, Sees, and Conquers At the start of Advent, our pastor preached about Christ’s three comings: He came at Christmas, He comes now in our daily lives, and He will come again at the end of time. As I sat there listening, the famous Roman saying popped into my head—Veni, Vidi, Vici—”I came, I saw, I conquered.” Julius Caesar’s declaration of swift military victory. We can reflect on these…
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Begin Again You may or may not know that the Church’s new year starts with Advent — not January 1st. A few years ago, we started a family tradition for ringing in the new Church year: pick a saint for the year. We sometimes pick saints out of a hat or flip to random pages in kids’ saint books. Then we ask for that saint’s intercession throughout the year. It’s…
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Giving Back As Catholics, we are called and asked by the Church to give of our time, talent, and treasure. We probably think of this most directly in relation to our local parish: what we tithe, how we volunteer, how we use our talents for the good of the Church. But there’s a misconception here. We think we are giving. That’s not the full picture. We’re actually giving back. The…
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The Long Game Unlike Baseball, God’s Mercy Rewrites the Rules for Our Spiritual Life. It’s getting close to playoffs for professional baseball, and as someone who grew up north of Baltimore, we were Orioles fans – which is unfortunate this year because they’re already out of contention. Interestingly, as I’m writing this, the Orioles have won 4 of their last 5 games with walkoffs, meaning they scored in the final…
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The Art of Receiving We talk a lot about giving. And we should—generosity is at the heart of the Christian life. But there’s another skill that’s just as important, and far less discussed: the art of receiving well. Receiving well is harder than it looks. It requires being appreciative and grateful without worrying about whether the giver will hold it over you or expect something in return. It means accepting…
Read MoreEternal Summer As I’ve gotten older, my view of summer has changed. As a kid, nothing beat it. No school. Long days spent swimming, running barefoot in the backyard, chasing fireflies, hanging out with friends, going on vacation. Summer was freedom — pure, uncomplicated joy. But as an adult — and especially as a parent — summer is different. There’s a built-in nostalgia from our own childhoods, an expectation that…
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With Joy A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I had the privilege of attending the priestly ordination of Fr. Robert Rienzo in the Diocese of Allentown. My wife and Fr. Rienzo were friends back in middle and high school, and since moving back to the area, we’ve had the blessing of witnessing his journey through seminary, leading up to that day. Standing there, watching the sacrament of Holy…
Read MoreWhat the Church Needs… “Habemus Papam,” We have a pope! The world listened with anticipated joy as the traditional Latin announcement was made two weeks ago from St. Peter’s Square in Rome. And the conclave of cardinals elected the first American pope, Pope Leo XIV! This was the third papal conclave (and the third white smoke sighting) of my lifetime. When Pope Benedict XVI was elected, I was in eighth…
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