Philomena, St. John Vianney, and a Blueprint for Converting Parishes

Last fall my wife was five months pregnant with our 11th child. We had already named her Philomena after the great wonder worker and favorite saint of St. John Vianney. This is when we found out that Philomena had a heart defect that would … [Read more...]

Book Reviews – February 2021

The Church in Crisis: Pathways Forward. By Ralph Martin. Reviewed by Eduardo Echeverria. (skip to review) Sex and the Spiritual Life: Reclaiming Integrity, Wholeness, and Intimacy. By Patricia Cooney Hathaway, ed. Reviewed by Christopher … [Read more...]

Religious Life: Ideal and Reality

All aspects of life are experienced on a continuum between the poles of ideal and reality. Human relationships are one example. Certainly, all desire our relationships to be of an ideal, but such a desire is not possible, for reality tells … [Read more...]

Book Reviews – October 2020

  Can Francis Change the Church? How American Catholics Are Responding to His Leadership. By Thomas P. Sweetser. Reviewed by Christopher Siuzdak. (skip to review) Into His Likeness: Be Transformed as a Disciple of Christ. By … [Read more...]