The following is a review of the film Calvary. Spoilers Ahead. Calvary is rated R and earns this rating. Viewer discretion advised.  I first watched the film Calvary four years ago. I remember leaving the theater feeling shocked and not a little disgusted. It was a brutal film, even an ugly film. And yet, four years later, I believe it […]

Many of our faults and failings are more complex than we at first realize. Our patterns of behavior are rarely random, and surface sins are often merely symptomatic of deeper, more subtle wounds in our souls. Fear is a prominent example of a deeper wound, for fear, perhaps second only to pride, is the cause […]

I don’t have a book problem, I tell my wife, I have a bookshelf problem. Our home is overflowing with books on every conceivable topic, with nearly every bookshelf double stacked. Yet, despite this superabundance of tomes, my wishlist remains filled with hundreds more books I would like to buy in the future. No matter […]

One of the most paradoxical aspects of the spiritual life is the tension between human effort and Divine generosity. That is, the question of whether we are saved by what we do or by what God does. Confusion arises because we are quite clearly told in scripture that we must do certain things. We must forgive or […]

Mother Angelica, the spunky Italian nun, once quipped, “If it wasn’t for people, we could all be holy.” And it’s simply true. Which of us has not thought at one time or another that the path to sainthood would be so much easier if it were not for so-and-so who is a real thorn in […]

When I was asked to serve as interim dean of the business school at the Catholic University of America, I thought it pru­dent to attend a seminar for new deans sponsored by the leading business school accreditation organization, the Association for the Advancement of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). The seminar lasted two days and […]

The most strenuous battles today is that against the ravenous wolf  that we call porn. We can safely say, with great sorrow and pain, that one of the most powerful and prevalent addictions today is that of porn. Because of the easy and all too prevalent availability and access to porn, more and more people—teens […]

If there’s one thing our culture values, it is speed. Fast food. Fast cars. Fast internet. The more quickly and efficiently anything can be done, the better. Yet there are few things more destructive to authentic human experience than speed. Hurriedness is not the father of wisdom. Doing things rapidly causes us to devalue them. […]