Who are we, and what are we about? These are important questions because they help us determine how we live our lives and relate to others. In my youth, I could not answer these questions very well, for I did not know my purpose nor understand how to live that fulfilling life I craved. I […]

Reading the Book of Esther, I am reminded of Saint Augustine of Hippo, for both “Queen Esther’s Prayer” and the “Rebellious Servant Prayer” touch with such sincerity and raw intensity upon our dependency on God, and our desire to be delivered from the many afflictions affecting us, be external or internal, physical or spiritual. Esther […]

From childhood, I was taught to say thanks whenever I received support from someone. I later learned there are two main benefits to this. Firstly, it acknowledges the person providing help, confirming that you see their effort.  It also helps them grow in confidence and allows their compassion and charity to develop further. Secondly, it enables us […]

Feast of the Presentation of the Lord People often see my crucifix necklace and feel compelled to ask me why I have faith in God. Invariably I am presented with a list of things that cannot be proved, not this side of Heaven. I listen attentively, for it is vital that people who doubt feel […]

I often meditate on why Christ, who came to redeem us and show us the way, would, during his ministry, tell both people and spirits not to make him known. Why perform his many deeds if the goal was to remain unknown? Christ had not yet established his new priesthood, revealed himself as the Paschal Lamb, […]

When Christ called Philip, he was entrusted with the gift of faith. Philip met Christ, and from that relationship, he could go in confidence and call others. He spoke directly from experience, for he was a witness, and what he saw gave him certainty. “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the […]

We are the children of our parents, and our sonhood or daughterhood is a state gifted to us, nurtured by our parent’s gifts of fatherhood and motherhood. Our parents’ gifts come directly from their sonhood and daughterhood, nurtured by their parent’s fatherhood and motherhood, thus repeated generationally in an unbroken line from the beginning of […]

Whenever I work in one of the big cities, I can easily discern that very distinct line between wealth and poverty and between thriving and struggling. I can often find, without too much effort, the virtual divisions, sometimes block by block between what my friends call the safe zones and the war zones, and I […]

As a child, I was curious about everything my parents did. I wanted to know what drove them and why which helped me understand them better. I could not understand everything at that age, but looking at them helped me grow in love and trust. I wanted to trust them because I loved them, but […]

Reading Saint Paul’s letter to the Philippians reminded me of all the times I have been in distress. While I have had times of deep need, I have never been so poor that I have not had hope, or lonely enough that I have not had love, or isolated enough that I have lost faith, […]