The kids were out of control and so were the bills, my relationship with my wife felt strained, and I honestly didn’t think I could handle the stress at work anymore. I’ll never forget the day it all seemed to come crashing together. It looked like an ugly self-portrait, an American Gothic with me holding […]

Did you know that this Sunday, September 20, is International Buy a Priest a Beer Day? We are now in our 7th year of this glorious festal day. On this auspicious occaision, faithful Catholics all over the world take their priests out for a beer and get to know them better. It’s a beautiful Catholic […]

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 […]

“It’s good to be king” was a common refrain in my home, and it was always in reference to me. I was a 5-year-old boy, who, my parents joked, got the royal treatment. My mother and father cooked for me, cleaned for me, and made sure I went to bed early. I was capable of […]

I’ll never forget the night my first child was born. I was racing down the freeway before dawn, clutching the steering wheel.  “Look out for deer,” Brittany moaned. I glanced at her sideways.  “You’re in labor, and you’re worried about deer?” “Just watch out for deer, okay!” I squeezed the steering wheel until my knuckles […]

  Bob came to me feeling very discouraged.  He had slipped again into viewing pornography.  He wanted to be completely honest about it and tell his wife; however, he didn’t know how to do it.  He knew she would be very angry and disappointed.  He didn’t want to hurt her, but he knew he had […]

I’ve never been good at initiating hugs. I’m pro-hugging, and very much so, it’s just that I’ve always felt awkward with being the first to spread his arms and move in for the hug. “Zubair,” Louis Coker, OFS, would say before spreading his arms and moving in on me, “my brother.” He had a knack […]

If it has been awhile since you’ve read The Tempest, it is definitely worth a re-read. If you haven’t ever read The Tempest…then how can you call yourself a gentleman? The play is about a man named Prospero. He is the former Duke of Milan who was betrayed and exiled by his brother to a […]