Spirituality

A couple years ago I bought a manual typewriter. I was in a slump in my writing and seeking some kind of creative, esoteric reboot, I suppose. There were things I wanted to write that I didn’t necessarily want online, or on the nebulous Cloud, or even on a hard drive, and so I thought perhaps going...

Jesus sends out seventy-two disciples on a missionary journey, granting them significant spiritual authority.  Wasn’t that risky? Gospel (Read Lk. 10:1-12, 17-20) As Jesus traveled to Jerusalem from Galilee for the last time, St. Luke tells us He commissioned seventy-two disciples “whom He sent ahea...

In the mountain-town of Emmitsburg, Maryland, there is a historic school unfamiliar to most Americans. Its founding in 1808 is a direct consequence of 1776. Its founder, Fr. John Dubois, was mentored by James Monroe and Patrick Henry to unleash a new birth of freedom in a country weary from a long t...

On July 4, 1776, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson signed the Declaration of Independence. Both had worked hard together in producing it. Subsequently, Adams became the second American president while Jefferson followed him as the young country’s third. Both had a high regard for the Bible. “It is the...

The phrase attributed to Mother Teresa of Calcutta, “The worst feeling: resentment,” offers a profound reflection on the human condition and the way emotions shape the course of our lives. While there are painful feelings such as sadness, fear, frustration, and loneliness, resentment has a distincti...

Since my mother’s womb, you have been my strength. (Ps. 71:6) Today, the Church celebrates the birth of John the Baptist, one of just three liturgical birthday celebrations, along with that of Jesus and Mary. According to pious Christian speculation, John was born (though not conceived) without orig...

Fear no one. That was Christ’s command to the Twelve after He told them they were going to be flogged in synagogues and dragged before governors and kings. That would be the fate of the Twelve, Christ’s hand-picked confidants, His band of brothers. Band of Brothers was a highly acclaimed miniseries...

This two-part article examines how Christianity gradually displaced paganism and idol worship throughout Europe from late antiquity into the early Medieval period. Part 1 of this article describes the religious landscape of the pre‑Christian world and discusses the formation of a distinct Christian...

I was ministering to a young woman recently who confirmed something for me that I’d been hearing about in different circles. She said young women are having a hard time in young adult groups because they are filled predominately with young men who want to argue religion and politics incessantly. Fue...

Rejoice in the Lord always. I shall say it again: rejoice! (Phil. 4:4) You can sense it almost everywhere now. The exhaustion and misery of a civilization that has forgotten how to hope. Watching the news, scrolling through social media, or checking in on X to see what’s going on in the world is an...

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus gives the Twelve lessons in discipleship, both its costs and its blessings. Gospel (Read Mt. 10:37-42) In verses preceding this reading, Jesus perhaps startled His disciples with this warning:  “Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to...

This two-part article discusses how Christianity became a dominant force upon its emergence through the combined effects of imperial patronage, missionary endeavors, and ritual appropriation. Archaeological evidence and contemporaneous texts reveal that the aforementioned strategies were instrumenta...