Read & Reflect
Articles, reflections, news, and homilies — thoughtful Catholic content for the faithful, published regularly.
Spirituality
Spirituality
The Cross and the Cup of Cold Water
The Gospel frequently places realities beside one another that seem, at first, entirely disproportionate. In the preceding reflection, we considered Christ’s startling declaration that He had come to bring not peace but the sword. That sword is not opposed to the peace of Christ. It is the truth tha...
Spirituality
Intercessory Prayer—Powerful and Challenging
“I will pray for you.” We say this often when we intend to intercede for others in their needs. But we hardly reflect on the grave obligation and power in those words. We fail to realize what bringing others’ needs before God and bringing God’s blessings to them really entails. The Canaanite woman i...
Spirituality
A Saint Film to Inspire Others: Young Carlo
Why is it so hard to make a genuinely well-crafted saint film? This is a question that has baffled my mind for as long as I could remember. I grew up during the great digital transition of cinema where access to filming equipment suddenly became massively cheaper and more available to the consumer m...
Spirituality
Learning to Become: Fulton Sheen and the Beatitudes
Over the years, I have had the joy of republishing many of Fulton J. Sheen’s books. One day, while working on his 1937 classic, The Cross and the Beatitudes, I was asked by the editorial staff to come up with a creative subtitle for the book. After reading through Fulton Sheen’s analysis of how the...
Spirituality
Get Behind Me, Satan: Why Does Jesus Rebuke Peter?
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time In last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus called Peter “the rock.” This Sunday, He calls him “Satan.” What happened? Gospel (Read Mt. 16:21-27) In the verses preceding this passage, Jesus and Peter had a remarkable exchange. Peter identified Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God;...
Spirituality
The Three Pillars of Faith—In Lived Reality
Imagine you are stuck in traffic. You are late, and there will be consequences. You cry out with a plea in your despair. Suddenly, your car is raised aloft by angels. You fly over all the traffic and land softly at your destination a few minutes early. This is not the Catholic Faith. Imagine you are...
Spirituality
How to Achieve Whole-Person Holiness, Part 2
In Part 1 of this article, I laid out a general framework for achieving whole-person holiness. In this part and in Part 3 of the article, I will focus on specific daily activities that will help us reach this goal. As you will see, the activities that I am about to describe are both practical and si...
Spirituality
Don’t Face the Storms of Life Without Prayer
He came towards them walking on the sea. (Mt. 14:25) These words in Matthew 14:22-33 describe how Jesus walked on stormy waters towards His disciples. But before Jesus performed this miracle, He spent the whole night in personal prayer with His Father. He dispatched His disciples, dismissed the crow...
Spirituality
Rekindling Romance in Your Marriage: 10 Fun Date Ideas
The greatest marriages always put God first, spouse second, and children third. But through the years, that order is quickly reversed. Children become the priority as schooling and sports take over. As a result, family dinner and prayer become even more difficult to maintain. Many couples slowly dri...
Spirituality
The Catholic Dating Cold War
A Reflection on the Polarization of Catholic Dating and the Hesitancy to Date Catholic dating nowadays often looks less like adults discerning marriage and more like a middle school dance. The men are on one side of the parish hall. The women are on the other. It would be hilarious if it were not al...
Spirituality
When Nothing Seems to Be Happening: Lessons from St. Monica on Patience and Perseverance
A worthy wife brings joy to her husband, peaceful and full is his life…Be he rich or poor, his heart is content, and a smile is ever on his face. (Sir. 26:2-4) St. Monica was a good and generous wife and mother, and we imagine there was a certain paradoxical peace and steadfast trust in her heart am...
Spirituality
AI Chatbots Are Hell
Describing hell is no fun task. Often, images of fire and pits, provided by Christ and portrayed in art throughout the Church’s history, come to mind. Yet, these images are allegories or metaphors (good ones of course!) which try to represent how terrible hell is. We know these images are metaphors...