Read & Reflect
Articles, reflections, news, and homilies — thoughtful Catholic content for the faithful, published regularly.
Spirituality
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...
Spirituality
United and Divided: The Two Ends of Marriage
I live in a sunny part of the world where many American baseball teams come for spring training. These pre-game games are relaxing, enjoyable, and, for spectators such as me, an inexpensive way to connect with family and friends. Others attend the same spring-training events and bring a wholly diffe...
Spirituality
Parables, Pearls, and the Gift of Understanding: 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
This Sunday, Jesus teaches about the kingdom of heaven in parables that are so clear, even the apostles understand them. Gospel (Read Mt. 13:44-52) The Gospel reading gives us another cluster of parables about the kingdom of heaven, adding to an unusually high number in just one chapter. The first...
Spirituality
What the World Cup Taught Me About Being in a Crisis
Every championship has a moment when the game seems to slip away. It usually isn’t obvious at first. The players are still in position. The tactics haven’t changed. The scoreline may even remain close. Yet something subtle begins to happen. Patience gives way to urgency. The carefully rehearsed syst...
Spirituality
Where Are the Other Nine? The Cross of Ingratitude
From Image to Icon, Escaping the Temptation of the Idol A recent Sunday Collect beautifully summarizes one of the deepest challenges of the Christian life: “Listen, O God, to our prayers, and grant that, by imitating the Passion of your Son, we may bear our daily cross with serene courage. Through C...
Spirituality
St. Charbel’s Miracles Continue
On December 1, 2025, Pope Leo XIV knelt in Annaya, Lebanon, under an arch of stone, facing the carved cedar tomb of St. Charbel Makhlouf. Pope Leo gazed at the image of the saint displayed above the tomb—a quiet, white-bearded religious priest and hermit robed in black. Charbel (Sharbel) Makhlouf wa...
Spirituality
Mystical Love in the Middle Ages
As we have seen throughout this series, love that is not objective but is based on feelings, oftentimes irrational and lost in passion, is called Eros by the Greeks. This ascending love, per Pope Benedict’s terminology, still contains a spiritual component, one that has led many thinkers, both pagan...
Spirituality
The Prophetic Voice of St. Elijah: A Call to Contemplation in a Troubled World
As the Carmelites celebrate St. Elijah shortly after the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, his figure emerges not merely as a biblical memory but as a prophetic presence for our own troubled age. Elijah’s name—El Javeh, “The Lord is God”—is itself a confession of faith, spoken against every form of...
Spirituality
The World Has Not Outgrown Dragons: St. Margaret of Antioch’s Enduring Witness
As with all ancient saints, St. Margaret of Antioch’s story is a blend of tradition, truth, legend, and mystery. While she was highly venerated in the Middle Ages and is still regularly invoked for intercession, her visibility in the Church Triumphant has waned over the years. While it is a shame wh...
Spirituality
The Greatest Marriage Manual There Is
All the marriage books and articles in the world could fill entire libraries with endless volumes. With happy and healthy marriages becoming increasingly rare, it can be difficult to know where to look to learn how to build a solid marriage. Fortunately, the most popular book on earth happens to be...
Spirituality
How Do I Know If I’m Following God’s Will?
Who or what is in control of my choices in life? This is the crucial question that St. Paul invites each of us to answer in his letter to the Romans 8:9, 11-13. He reminds us of our new status in Christ, writing, “Brothers and sisters, you are no longer in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the...