John Hienen, owner of The Catholic Gentleman, said that often men treat Lent as though it is “extra credit,” as though we are being kind to God by offering Him a little extra. How nice. Lent is not an add-on feature, a bonus segment on a liturgical app, an extra rep, or an extra lap around the track.Lent is essential.You will only have so many Lents—perhaps seventy or eighty for those who are granted a longer life. “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.” (Psalm 90:10)Indeed, how many of these Lents have we embraced to the fullest?

I'm afraid of God. I’ve probably always been afraid of Him but just realized it – put it into those words – at the Vigil Mass for the Solemnity of Mary. May she pray for me now and at the hour of my death. This may be Proverbs 9:10: “The beginning of wisdom is fear of the LORD, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” I hedge (“may be”), because the “feeling” I refer to is claustrophobia: I am overwhelmed by His presence and power and feel the need to escape.

We are living in a time when men are besieged from all fronts.  Men have a suicide rate three times higher than women which many attribute, at least in part, to men equating asking for help with portraying vulnerability in a society where vulnerability is equated with weakness and not being a real man.  As […]

A glance at the news headlines gives the very real impression that the world is in flames. Who can deny that we are in a tremendous state of turmoil, reeling from one crisis only to enter another one? I’ve refrained from commenting on the unfolding events we are seeing because the world does not need […]

The Camino de Santiago changed my life entirely and the experience continues to bear fruit. There are a myriad of events speak to me, but three faces rise up from the depths of my heart, from shadow to light. These seem to hold the essence of my sojourn: the Child, the Old Man, and the […]

Many Catholics are deeply anxious about the unprecedented situation we find ourselves in. Some are frustrated and even angry about parish closures in a time when we long for access to the sacraments. And it is looking increasingly as if we may have an historic Easter without public celebration of the Triduum. In light of […]

Fear is a mental and spiritual virus. It spreads faster and more efficiently than any airborne disease. Its symptoms are at times anger, aggression, isolation, despair, irrationality, loss of faith, and clouded judgement, among other things. And if there is one emotion that dominates the world at this time, it is a deep and abiding […]

One of the most pernicious lies of the modernity is that we were made for comfort. Every day, thousands of advertisements and so-called experts promise us a life free from suffering and pain—if only we buy one more thing.  Yet, the comfortable life they promise is an illusion. For all our advancements in science and […]