The Life of Virtue

Faithful Catholics understand that a person's spiritual journey is marked with interspersed periods of fertility and aridity. Those periods often vary in length and degree. Simply put, the spiritual life if much more like a roller coaster than like a walking track! Over the course of nearly four years, I experienced a few peaks and valleys; times of great spiritual depth and times of severe dryness. I must say, however, that I have been blessed with richness in greater duration and degree than the opposite. It seems as though my spiritual life has been on a near-constant ascent during my Catholic adulthood. That is, until just over a week ago. As the Christmas season ended and "normal" life resumed, I began to find it increasingly difficult to pray, especially for sustained periods of time. In fact, there were several days when I was simply not able to pray at all, despite my best efforts (and probably some laziness!). All the while, I was (and have been) crying to...

Today's Office of Readings required the recitation of a portion of Psalm 18, which spoke praise and thanksgiving for God's salvation. In addition to that Psalm, the two-year cycle of Biblical readings prescribed the third chapter of Genesis. Additionally, this author's most recent choice for non-Biblical reading has been Spe Salvi . These particular readings spoke volumes about the unconditional nature of God's love for humanity (and each individual human). After the Creation Story, the author of Genesis provided an account the Fall, the original sin. We've all heard it before: God was crazy about Adam and Eve, but they messed up that relationship, for themselves and every future generation. However, the situation did not remain without hope! The sin of Adam and Eve could not prevent God from promising salvation for all humanity throughout all history. Remember Genesis 3:15, which the Church proclaims as the proto-evangelum! But, God's love doesn't st...

A friend and fellow youth minister has begun a blog entitled " Renew Catholic Dads ." Maybe his insights will help some of the rest of us along our own journeys as Christians, husbands, and fathers. Pray for Bob's family, my family, and your own family. Families, you know, are the incubators for future saints! God Bless!

St. Peter Chrysologus (a name which means "Golden-Worded") was a bishop in Ravenna (modern-day Italy) just before the fall of the Roman Empire. His sermons, which he used to teach the faithful, were his most famous attribute. Indeed, the sermons that have survived still provide enthralling reading in modernity. One such sermon treated an important sequence in Our Lord's earthly life: His Incarnation, Nativity, and the Epiphany. Its verbiage and imagery left this reader enchanted for a lengthy period. In choosing to be born for us, God chose to be known by us. He therefore reveals himself in this way, in order tha this great sacrament of his love may not be an occasion for us of great misunderstanding. Today the Magi find, crying in a manger, the one they have followed as he shone in the sky. Today the Magi see clearly, in swaddling clothes, the one they have long awaited as he lay hidden among the stars. Today the Magi gaze in deep wonder at what they see: heaven on...

Yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI gave his annual address to the group of diplomats who serve their respective countries as envoys to the Vatican City State. This "state of the world" address was not only an update on issues of critical importance. It was also an exhortation by his Holiness regarding critical issues in the year to come. I pray that those diplomats who heard his address will take the message back to their own countries and engage in critical dialogue, and work to build a foundation of morality based on the natural law. If such measures are taken, we citizens of the world might see a change in the current course of history. Click here to read the synopsis of the Pope's address by Catholic World News. Click here to read the full orignal text of the address.

I did not have an opportunity to write before the celebration of the Nativity of Our Lord, and thus I did not get to wish my readers "Merry Christmas!" Not a problem, though; I'll do it today! Merry Christmas! And Merry Christmas tomorrow! Saturday, too! How is this possible, you ask? Well, it is because the Christmas season begins on December 25 and lasts a total of 12 days...until January 6! (Where do you think the song came from?) Our culture (even our Christian culure) has forgotten that December 25 marks the beginning of our joyous celebration; not the end. Only on Sunday will I cease to wish people a Merry Christmas. Maybe you'll consider joining me in returning propriety to our seasons of worship! God Bless!

As I arrived at the office this morning after a much-needed Holiday vacation, the following email was in my Inbox. UPDATE --- BELLA BROKE THE BOX OFFICE RECORD for 2007! Hi - We learned Bella broke the record on Christmas eve by generating a higher Box Office than every other film in 2007 in its' category including Jennifer Lopez's "El Cantante" and "Love in the time of Cholera". Because of your help Bella broke this record and became the #1 Top Rated movie in the world by the New York Times Readers Poll, Yahoo, Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango. After a successful domestic theatrical release we are distributing Bella worldwide and Lionsgate is releasing Bella on DVD on May 6th. Please tell everyone you know by sending this email to your entire database. Thank you for helping Bella make a positive impact on the world! God bless, [Author's name omitted] This shows the influence that Christians still have on our culture! A big "thank you" is to be ex...