Read & Reflect
Articles, reflections, news, and homilies — thoughtful Catholic content for the faithful, published regularly.
Spirituality
Spirituality
The Simple Solution to Complaints About Online Exorcists
In recent months there has been more Catholic writers and social media types in the laity and priesthood complaining about the rise of online exorcists. Some of the complaints are valid. There is a prudence that should be exercised by any member of the clergy—or anyone for that matter—who rises to a...
Spirituality
Celebrating Christmas in July, Compliments of St. Francis of Assisi
By now you’ve probably received your fair share of emails and savings offers on a variety of items—including Christmas decorations! These “Christmas in July” sales are now as common as the Back-to-School push, which seems to occur the moment we settle into summer. We barely get to enjoy that special...
Spirituality
How to Pray a Novena to the Nine Choirs of Angels
When you consider the large part they play in God’s great work, angels might be the most overlooked aspect of our spiritual life. Beyond their work throughout Scripture, many saints have also written beautifully about angels and their mission. Still, in modern life, angels often get relegated to art...
Spirituality
5 Qualities of Authentic Discipleship
Even while on earth, Jesus’ apostolic mission appeared to bear much fruit, evident in the large crowd that followed Him: “Such large crowds gathered around Him (Jesus) that He got into a boat and sat down.” But Jesus does not seem impressed by the size of the crowd. He goes on to tell them a parable...
Spirituality
Pascal’s Wager: Why Believing in God May Be the Most Rational Choice
Blaise Pascal was one of the most remarkable minds of the seventeenth century. A mathematician, physicist, philosopher, and writer, he devoted his life to exploring both the mysteries of nature and the deepest questions of human existence. Born in Clermont-Ferrand, France, in 1623, Pascal displayed...
Spirituality
Martha’s Trust: What Humiliation Teaches Us About Humility
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. (Jn. 11:17) The first time we are introduced to the character Martha in the Gospels, Scripture paints a rather ugly portrait of a woman disgruntled by her sister Mary’s failure to help in the kitchen, seemingly env...
Spirituality
The Dangerous Weapon of Contraception
God has left us from Paradise three things: the stars, the flowers and the eyes of a child… That is a quote from a 1908 book titled The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass by Nicholas Guir. The author wrote that flowers have a place entirely their own in God’s creation: In the splendor of their colors, in th...
Spirituality
Marriage Conflict, Temptation, and the Formula for Success
Women think that they are making ideals of men. What they are making of us are false idols merely. You made your false idol of me, and I had not the courage to come down, show you my wounds, tell you my weaknesses. I was afraid that I might lose your love, as I have lost it now. — Oscar Wilde, An I...
Spirituality
Saints Anne and Joachim: The Parents Who Shaped a Sinless Heart
If we seek to learn more about the mother of Jesus, then perhaps the place to begin is by taking a closer look at the family from which she came. Unfortunately, we have almost no information about the parents of our Blessed Mother Mary. In fact, any “historical” information we have comes from a non-...
Spirituality
Walking Through the Garden of Life with Abba
Have you noticed that in a garden it is easier to experience God than nearly anywhere else? Praying while sitting in, looking at, or working in a garden is a direct connection to our Creator. Why is that? I suspect it’s because it’s a return to the Garden of Eden. The close relationship that God int...
Spirituality
Our Call To Evangelize and the Glorious Adventure Waiting on the Other Side of the World
There’s a phrase that changed the way I pray, the way I give, and honestly, the way I look at a map. Mission ad gentes. It’s Latin for “mission to the nations,” or “mission to the peoples.” This little phrase carries the heartbeat of the Church, the last words Jesus spoke before He ascended into hea...
Spirituality
When Our Sufferings Give Way to God’s Glory
When I was 23 years old, I was stationed with the Navy in England. I had finished a very successful first tour at a major intelligence agency Stateside and was sent overseas to help bring a new station online. From the outside, I had everything going for me. Internally, I was crumbling. I used all m...