Pastoral Care of Women Who Have Left the Convent

In the fall of 2014, I got on a train to enter the convent. I was happy and healthy, with an intact family, great friends, a list of accomplishments I was proud of, and no history of mental health trouble, having passed my psychological … [Read more...]

Well Directed — Lessons Learned
from Saint Paul

The Importance of Spiritual Direction in the Ministry and Mission of Evangelization in Light of the Life and Ministry of the Apostle Paul

We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may … [Read more...]

Life in Peloton

A Reflection on Cycling and Priestly Fraternity

It is patently unthinkable that someone would attempt to win the Tour de France alone. This is the reason why cycling has always been a team sport. At the professional level, even teams are never solo; they come together to form a peloton, … [Read more...]

Book Reviews – January 2020

The Catholic Gentleman: Living Authentic Manhood Today By Sam Guzman. Reviewed by Austin Barnes. (skip to review) Still Amidst the Storm: A Family Man’s Search for Peace in an Anxious World By Conor Gallagher. Reviewed by Seth G … [Read more...]

Understanding the Vatican’s Document on Gender Theory and Education

I’ve been trying to keep up with the diverse array of responses to the release of “Man and Woman He Created Them,” the Vatican’s new document addressing gender theory and education. Predictably, liberal Catholic news outlets have criticized … [Read more...]

Suicide Prevention in Youth

The severity of the mental health crisis in American youth has been clearly documented again by the shocking research reported in the Wall Street Journal that over the ten year period 2007 to 2017 the suicide rate among people ages 10 to 24 … [Read more...]

The “Un-hefted” Vanishing Flock

When Irishman Declan Dinneny spoke, I caught every fifth word. His voice came in a wild chorus of undulated high pitches that crescendoed when he spoke of something important, like maybe a heifer who’d miscarried that morning. His farm was b … [Read more...]

A Sacerdotal Summer

St. Ignatius of Loyola likened the “enemy of our human nature” to a cunning military strategist who sussed out each of our weakest defenses and thereby knew exactly where to strike. A war for souls is truly on, both on the individual as wel … [Read more...]

Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis to Priests

Letter of His Holiness Pope Francis to Priests on the 160th Anniversary of the Death of the Holy Curé of Ars, St. John Vianney To my Brother Priests Dear Brothers, A hundred and sixty years have passed since the death of the holy … [Read more...]

The Dark Spirit in Our Institutions

Catholics, Take Heed

There is a dark spirit, a spirit of unreason, stalking the world. In earlier times we might have characterized it as a Dionysian spirit attempting to oust Apollo. This spirit urges those who listen to it to throw off the constraints of the … [Read more...]

Parochial Solipsism

It is not excessive to suggest that three quarters of the life of the American pastor is consumed with administrative governance. He is, for all intents and purposes, the head of a small business. He hires and fires, reviews budgets, … [Read more...]

Parental and Spousal Alienation in Catholic Marriages

Marital separation and divorce in Catholic couples can result in intense levels of stress and sadness, particularly in the majority of spouses who report, while this is occurring, being happily married, committed to the marriage, and … [Read more...]

Why You Should Have Hope for the Future of the Church

It’s officially the heart of ordination season, and our family is attending our usual round of ordination Masses. For the second year in a row, I am sewing a chasuble and stoles for some of my seminarian friends. If you have never sewn a … [Read more...]

Questions Answered – May 2019

Handling the Precious Blood Question: During Mass, wine is consecrated in a chalice and we believe it becomes the Precious Blood of Jesus. I understand that it should not be poured out into any other vessel and given to Eucharistic … [Read more...]