1. It is the things that move us most that stir us to action. But what happens when we aren’t moved anymore?

    The New York Rescue Mission is the oldest rescue mission in the United States.

    It is also in one of the most populous places on earth.

    As of September 2014, the Coalition for the Homeless estimated that there are some 54,000 people in homeless shelters each night in New York City. That’s only 3,000 shy of every resident of both Gibson and Posey counties combined. After more than 150 years in their mission of trying to help the homeless, the New York Rescue Mission decided to try a social experiment to open the eyes of those who see the homeless every day.

    Men and women were asked to come and sit for an on-camera interview about one of their loved ones: a wife, a cousin, an uncle, a best friend, etc. Each shared what makes that person so special—how they met, where they work, funny moments shared. It’s quite a touching video.

    After a while, the person doing the interview hands a laptop to the person talking about their loved one. They watch the video and see themselves walking down the sidewalk toward the studio earlier that day. Multiple camera angles give the husband, cousin, friend or whomever a good view of their surroundings: brick walls, rusty-iron staircases, parked cars, and one or two homeless people buried in tattered blankets and trash.

    As they watch themselves walking by the homeless person or people, each one is stunned.

    They realize it is the loved one they have been talking about posed as homeless.

    During the first weeks of Ordinary Time, we hear about “the Call” of the first disciples of Jesus who share in his mission of reaching out to those who are abandoned, poor, and alone.

    The social experiment done in New York makes me wonder whether Jesus felt similarly to the people who gasped and shed a tear for the friend or family member. I wonder whether his disciples did, too.

    The video of the social experiment ends with each person leaving the studio to find their loved one still positioned as the homeless person, and the moment shared is deeply moving.


    The homeless people in New York are God’s chosen people. But so are our spouses, children, cousins, friends, and co-workers. Recognize them with love.

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    Labels: General Inspiration Love Thy Neighbor Newspaper Columns Preferential Option for the Poor


  2. I was recently asked by my seminary to present a formation conference for a group of people in Illinois and from Missouri gathered on a weekend of education and growth. My session would be two hours on "Catholic Culture".

    At first, I struggled to decide what to talk about. History? Expressions of faith? Feast days? Family connections? Practices? 

    So, when I went, I began by asking the group what comes to mind when they hear "Catholic". 

    After about 12 or 15 minutes of brainstorming, our small, movable whiteboard was covered with words like Church, mass, Eucharist, rosaries, scandal, service, school, fasting, nuns, big families, pope, and on and on. 

    After ending the brainstorming, I asked, "is this accurate? Is this the Catholic faith? Is this our culture?"

    Immediately, two participants said, "No." After a brief silence, another chimed in, "Yes." And yet another followed with, "Some of it."

    It took us a good while longer and conversation talking about these words and what it means to be Catholic before someone interrupted: "Jesus!" And he wasn't using the Lord's name in vain. He said, "Jesus isn't even up there."

    The rest of our time together was spent talking about what it means to be Catholic. And every single aspect of whatever "Catholic culture" we know or even just perceive—and the culture we want to create—should all be rooted in the person of Jesus Christ, Son of God, who came to reveal God to us and to restore our relationship with God. 

    If what we do in the name of our “faith” doesn’t link back to what Jesus did for us, then why do it?

    I think we often do many good things for many noble purposes. Often, when we give money to a charity or volunteer to watch someone’s children for them or even just fold our sister’s or brother’s laundry when they are stressed from work, we know there is something "right and just" about it. I wonder whether we know it is following the example of Christ, though, who himself put his life at the service of every other person, every person from all eternity.

    This week, when someone asks you why you go to Mass or why you say a prayer before you eat or whatever, make the connection: "I do it because Jesus showed us that this is the pathway to life.” 

    And that’s a Catholic culture worth sharing.

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  3. One of my favorite psalms is Psalm 131. It reads, “Lord, my heart is not proud; nor are my eyes haughty. I have not gone after things too great, nor marvels beyond me. Rather, I have stilled my soul, like a weaned child to its mother, even so is my soul.”

    I often get questions from men and women of all ages about discerning what God is calling them to: Should I ask this woman to marry me? Should I join the seminary? Would you look for another job if you were in my shoes?

    In the midst of feeling compelled or attracted to something new (and often good), I think the step we can often overlook is whether we are fully giving ourselves to our role at hand. We could ask instead, “Is your soul still, at peace?”

    It's easy to feel called out of what you are presently doing if you're not putting yourself fully into what you should be presently doing. Take college students, for example. It's easy to feel called out of your college major if you're not putting yourself into your classes. For those who work: it's easy to feel called out of your job if you're not trying to do your job well. Finally, for those who are married or dating: it is easy to feel called out of your marriage or relationship if you're not investing your free time and sacrificing your personal wants for the love of your boyfriend or girlfriend or wife or husband.

    Sometimes we commit the sin of pride simply by thinking we “are beyond” what we have been given or what we have consciously chosen. Jesus is a good model for us in all things, and especially in living out his role.

    Jesus was a carpenter most of his life, and he was no less divine for being fully engaged in the work of building or the study of the Hebrew scriptures than he would be later in public ministry. In fact, I don’t think we can say Jesus’ mission “suffered” because of how he spent his time before his public ministry.


    Your work right now—and mine—is our hinge of holiness. If we cannot learn to live fully where we are, how can we expect to be happy where we move to? Christ calls us to fullness of life, and he will make known where that path leads. But it starts by being where we are, first.

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    Labels: Newspaper Columns Vocations


  4. Many people want to pray well and want to use Scripture to spend time with Christ. Most just don't know where to start.

    So, here is a developing list of passages from the Old Testament and the New Testament that might be helpful for your prayer life. I would recommend reading the brief description to see what the Holy Spirit might be moving through to speak with you about right now. Then, I would:
    1. Find a quiet place away from your phone, work, and any other potential distraction
    2. Decide how long you will remain there in prayer
    3. Read the passage and note what the Holy Spirit is holding up before you
    4. Then, just talk with Christ (or the Father or the Holy Spirit or Mary...) about it
      1. How does that part make you feel? (FEELINGS)
      2. What does it bring to mind? (THOUGHTS)
      3. Where might the Lord be asking you to go or what may he be asking you to do? (ACTION)
    5. Finally, end with a prayer thanking God for specific things in your life and asking him to assist you in whatever action or movement he placed upon your heart.
    Bonus: if that passage was fruitful, consider using it again within a day or two.


    Here is a developing list:
    • Jeremiah 29: 11-14 - encouragement to those who feel lost or stuck
    • Psalm 23 - the Lord is our shepherd and host
    • Psalm 16 - prayer of trust in the Lord’s security
    • Song of Songs 2:10-14 - how much the Lord loves us as one person loves another
    • Isaiah 43:1-7 - promises of redemption and restoration
    • Matthew 9:35-10:16 - Jesus had compassion for the crowds
    • Matthew 14:22-33 - Jesus walking on water and calling Peter out of the boat
    • John 13:1-17 - Jesus washing the disciples' feet
    • Luke 11:9-13 - the Father wants what is good for us
    • Luke 15:11-32 - parable of the Lost Son
    • John 14:1-6; 15-21; 25-27 - Jesus’ words of comfort at the Last Supper
    • Hebrews 4:14-5:10 - Jesus sympathizes with our weakness
    • Romans 8:31-39 - nothing can separate us from the love of God
    • 2 Corinthians 4:7-18 - encouragement in trial and weakness
    • Philippians 4:4-9 - encouragement to rejoice, pray, and be at peace
    • Ephesians 3:14-21 - prayer to be filled with the fullness of God
    • Sirach 44:16-45:5 - what God has done with others, so he may do with your life
    • Romans 12:1-2 - praying for purity and for conversion 
    • Psalm 34 – God will save those who hope in him

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  5. I'm struck that the smallest words are the ones that seem to have the most power over what we do.

    Love is one of those words.

    It helps soldiers get through war. It keeps a husband and wife united after 30 or 50 or 70 years of struggle and grief...and joy. And it divides so strongly, too. In love's absence, people don't listen or speak, and it sometimes when love is not there, people don't have the courage to just be themselves.

    It's such a hard thing. And yet it's the only thing.

    Understanding what it looks like to love, especially for a homosexual man or woman, is even more contentious. And yet the only things that seem to get close to helping us see are the stories, the real life stories of men and women who, amidst darkness and struggle, are joyfully finding their way.

    These - dare I say saints - are the best argument we have for marriage and sexuality.

    That's it. Just watch.


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    Labels: Energizing Witness Homosexuality Sexuality The Modern Man Today's Church


  6. I spent the first week of January at a conference in Florida with some students from USI. The conference was to help the students and those who minister on campuses grow in their faith and learn how to share that faith with others.

    One of the speakers was a young mother who spoke about how sometimes it's hard for us to see how what God is giving us is actually good for us. We ask for a sickness to be healed, for a job to work out for us, or for a test to go well. And what we receive is sometimes not what we asked for.

    She then talked about her 5-month-old son who is teething. She pointed out that anyone who is ever been around a teething toddler knows that if it can be reached, it will be chewed on. Sometimes, she said, her son reaches for a knife or a fork at the dinner table, because he wants to gnaw on it a bit to soothe his gums. He doesn't realize what he really needs. He just knows that he has a need. 

    We do the same thing. We reach for what we think will help soothe our pain or need, but sometimes we grab things that are not actually good for us. And when God, our Father, takes those things away or offers us something different, sometimes that's hard to accept. It doesn't look like a gift. It doesn't feel like love.

    But it is. Because God always knows what we need and will always give us what is good for us. Jesus said, “What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?” (Lk 11:11-12) When we are searching for something that is good, God won't give us a bad gift.

    As we look at the time of new things, maybe a good resolution – or at least the beginning of a habit – might be to look at the root of what we are asking for in prayer. Maybe rather than asking for a particular antidote, maybe just telling God what hurts would be enough. As a child tries to tell his parents, we can let our Father know how we are feeling or what is troubling us and simply ask for whatever gift He has already prepared to offer to us.

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    Labels: Newspaper Columns Prayer Suffering
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