Read & Reflect

[Daily Rosary Meditations] Herman the Lame

[Daily Rosary Meditations] Padre Pio

Don't Put it Off

The Shema and the Sign of the Cross

The Trinity is the greatest mystery ever revealed to humanity. Even the great St. Augustine devoted years to studying and writing On the Trinity (De Trinitate), one of the most influential theological works in Christian history. Yet despite his brilliant intellect, Augustine recognized that the huma...

Did I Meet My Son’s Guardian Angel?

“Be devout to the Guardian Angels of your friends; they render you in many instances greater services than you are aware; and sometimes they even give you assistance which you do not receive from your own Guardian Angel. There are occasions on which they interest themselves in your behalf for the sa...

There Are No Ordinary Encounters: Immortals on a Hill Road

A few years ago, I spent a week in a scenic hill station with some fellow students and colleagues. One evening, after a picnic, my friends wanted to refill their supply of spirits. The place was in a “dry” state, but there were shops for those who knew where to look. We asked Gautam, our driver, to...

Are We Helping Build a More Human Society?

About 1.5 years after we moved into our current house, a major bridge construction project began two blocks away. This led the city to divert traffic through our neighborhood. As the project drags on, it is creating more and more problems in the neighborhood from the volume of traffic it was never m...

How to Pray a Novena to St. Michael the Archangel

St. Michael the Archangel is one of those saints that you can go to for anything. Priests and parishioners invoke his name for spiritual protection, especially at the end of Mass. We also see St. Michael coming to the aid of the sick and dying, especially in the visions of Pope St. Gregory the Great...

Do We Grumble About God’s Generosity? 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus tells a parable that poses an interesting question:  Would we ever grumble about God’s generosity? Gospel (Read Mt. 20:1-16a) In the verses preceding this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus told the disciples, “it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 19:23).  A “rich young man”...

Why Catholics Need Catholic Therapists

I. Opening: A Personal Shock I have practiced psychotherapy for more than three decades, treating individuals, couples, and families across a wide range of presenting problems. In recent years I have semi‑retired from clinical practice and now teach in a graduate counseling program—work I deeply enj...

The Divine Will: 3 Stages of the Spiritual Life

“Thy will be done,” which every Christian prays at least once a day, is perhaps the most difficult petition of the Lord’s Prayer. It demands that a person put aside their own selfish wishes and trust in a higher plan. (Read John 6:67.) St. Alphonsus Liguori wrote: “All our perfection consists in the...