Embodiment and Integral Witness

Pope Francis’ Early Teaching on Catechesis

As a bishop, Jorge Bergoglio communicated profound truth in a simple manner. In words as in deeds he embodied the goal of total identification: “My people are poor and I am one of them” was a plain fact that undergirded his episcopal min … [Read more...]

There but for the Grace of God

“O wonder of your humble care for us! O love, O charity beyond all telling.” Exultet One of the four Americans mentioned by Pope Francis in his address to the joint session of Congress on September 15, 2015 was Thomas Merton. Thomas Mer … [Read more...]

Pope Francis and the Symposium on the Priesthood

Many times, Pope Francis has been very critical in speaking about priests and even seminarians, and for sure bishops. He is calling the Church to a renewal, and he does not seem to have this concern without some experience. He began his … [Read more...]

St. Joseph and Fatherhood

Originally delivered as a talk for the Diocese of Paterson Advent Day of Prayer for Priests, St. Paul Inside the Walls Evangelization Center, Madison, NJ on December 6, 2022. It is my privilege and pleasure to be with you today at the … [Read more...]

Overview of Desiderio Desideravi

On the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29, 2022, Pope Francis promulgated the Apostolic Letter Desiderio Desideravi.[1. Francis, Desiderio Desideravi (Rome: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2022), … [Read more...]

Flannery Was Right

The Problem of Nihilism Within the Catholic Church

In a letter to Betty Hester dated August 28, 1955, Flannery O’Connor wrote: “If you live today you breathe in nihilism. In or out of the Church, it’s the gas you breathe.”[1. Flannery O’Connor, The Habit of Being, hereafter HB (New York: Far … [Read more...]

Thinking About Ministry After Covid

Based On Ecclesiological Insights of Pope Francis

The opening paragraph of Lumen Gentium states, “Since the Church is in Christ like a sacrament or as a sign and instrument both of a very closely knit union with God and of the unity of the whole human race, it desires now to unfold more f … [Read more...]

Shepherding the Flock Out of the 1962 Missal

The time has come, says God to Moses. You must lead my people out of Egypt, out of captivity, toward the Promised Land.[1. Ex 3:10.] Unfortunately for the eager travelers, the journey lasts 40 years,[2. Deut 1:3.] and along the way the … [Read more...]

“Amoris Laetitia”: A Clarion Call for a Healthier Clergy

One of the often missed points in Amoris Laetitia (chapter 6, §203) is the Holy Father’s reference to the importance of improving the psycho-affective development of future priests. I am convinced that this is long overdue. Having been a … [Read more...]

Clericalism: Problems Past, Present, and Future

I am a permanent deacon, married and with children; at the same time, I am ministering in my parish. When I was first ordained, I used to joke that I “had a foot in both camps,” as I seemed to be both laity and ordained. But in reality, we a … [Read more...]

Contradiction: On Libertarianism and LGBTQ Orthodoxy

On February 23, Blaise Cardinal Cupich reiterated an objection to the hijacking of Catholic teaching by libertarian ideology. He was reflecting on how libertarianism impedes Catholics receiving Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ as the aut … [Read more...]

The Death Penalty Is a Failed Sacrifice

The final abolition of the death penalty in the 2018 revision of the Catechism[1. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2267.] and follow-up confirmation in the latest Pope Francis encyclical, Fratelli tutti,[2. Pope Francis, Fratelli … [Read more...]

Pope Francis and the Girardian Moment

The promulgation of the Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et exsultate constitutes a decisive moment in the Magisterial teaching of the Church. Perhaps its most obvious contribution is breathing the spirituality of St. Ignatius Loyola into the … [Read more...]

Making Parishes Home Sweet Home

Parish-Based Homeschool Cooperatives for the Next Academic Year and Beyond

John Kingdon proposed that public policy change comes about when the three streams of problems, policies, and politics come together at the same time.[1. J.W. Kingdon, Agendas, Alternatives and Public Policies (Boston: Little, Brown and … [Read more...]

The Sweetness of the Yoke of Christ

Hope for those struggling to live out the teaching of Humanae Vitae

My wife, Kristina, and I were married just weeks after our twenty-second birthdays. We were still in our final year of college, young, naive — and in love. Our Catholic faith was always a central part of our lives and our relationship. We t … [Read more...]