Triumph of the Heart "In the harrowing confines of Auschwitz's starvation cell, Catholic priest St. Maximilian Kolbe volunteers to die in place of another prisoner, joining nine others condemned by the Nazis. As despair and fear grip the group, the pressures of...
It is common to enter dry spells in one’s marriage. Those warm and fuzzy feelings during the honeymoon phase sometimes come and go, affected by hormones, fatigue, and various stages of life. Even still, I know that it can be unsettling. You’ve committed to spending...
When you first meet someone, you’re curious to know them. You want to know how old they are, where they grew up, what they currently do, their best memories, etc. Perhaps, they’ll share with us something very unexpected — their vast knowledge of electric fish in...
When I became Catholic fifteen years ago, I was amazed by all the organizations available to Catholic laypeople. They are the outward, organizational expressions of our “Catholicity”, our call to worship, to serve, to pray, to evangelize. I bet anyone reading this...
Every January, many women enter the new year with sincere intentions and clear goals—only tofeel discouraged when those resolutions fall apart a few weeks later. The problem isn’t a lack ofdiscipline or desire. More often, it’s that we jump straight into what we...
To commemorate the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’s death, Pope Leo XIV has proclaimed that from January 10, 2026, to January 10, 2027, Catholics will celebrate a Franciscan Jubilee Year - a Special Year of St. Francis of Assisi! The faithful have been granted the...
When I was in high school, I was t-boned by a truck. The light had just changed from red to green, and, naively, I hit the gas without checking to the left or right. The truck that struck me, driver-side, right about the front tire, was unforgiving to my parents’...
Holiness often hides in overlooked places. Sometimes it takes the form of a quiet act of service or a simple job no one else notices. Few saints reveal this better than Saint André Bessette, the humble Holy Cross brother whose perseverance transformed not only his own...
Ten seconds. Ten measly seconds. That’s all it takes to ruin your day—and maybe even your life. Your teacher catches you copying off the student next to you. You blow a semester of your kid’s tuition on a bad bet. You take a drink for the first time in four years. Ten...
How much do you remember of last Sunday’s homily? What was it about? What about the one before that? Were they memorable, outstanding preaching moments? Pope Benedict, writing as Cardinal Ratzinger, wrote that preaching in modern times was in “crisis.” No end of...
We are sometimes quick to believe that saints lived lives of constant holiness, free from struggle and pain. But the truth is much more human—and much more encouraging. Many saints - dare I say, most saints - didn’t live holy, peaceful lives for the entirety of their...
Ever feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of devotions, prayers, novenas, saint days, feast days, celebrations, fasts, Holy Days of Obligation, octaves, and other observances in the Catholic Church? In this digital age, we have more resources than ever—Catholic books,...
This series of four essays addresses as battle domains the four tenets of the prevailing cosmological thinking of our time: Moralistic Therapeutic Deist Universalism. Part 1, Part 2, and each subsequent part provide a means that we must apply daily to allow God to...
Read Part 1 of this 3-part series here and Part 2 here. Having established the fact that prayer is a relationship of love and after reflecting on Jesus’ own teaching regarding prayer, we are now more equipped to consider the question, How do I pray? There are, of...
No matter how talented, disciplined, or motivated an athlete is, failure is part of the game. Striking out at the plate, fumbling the football, missing the winning shot, or making a costly error on defense—it happens to every athlete at every level. But for young...
Imagine it’s Christmas Day. Your family is gathered around the dinner table—laughter, stories, the clatter of silverware on plates. But your sister isn’t joining in. She has just returned home from college out of state. You notice how quiet she is, detached from the...
Lust is more than a personal weakness or a private struggle—it is a direct assault on the sacredness of the human person, on marriage, on family, and ultimately, on the very image of God. Among the seven deadly sins, lust uniquely wounds not only the soul of the...
Chicago. Autumn of 2025. The air turns crisp as September surrenders to October’s embrace, leaves ablaze in reds and golds, whispering secrets of harvest and renewal. Baseball fever grips the heartland—the “October Classic” looms, where underdogs dare to dream and...
Two years ago, after I’d been in my current job for several years, I felt I’d finally get the promotion for which I’d longed. In my mind, I deserved it. And, based on subtle clues from my boss and others, I thought it was coming. I told my family it was coming. I was...
In recent decades, we have received a sign that fills us with joy but also makes us think. It is the fact that several spouses have been beatified and canonized, not separately, but as married couples. I think of Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of Saint Therese of...
“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels”. — St. Augustine My first memories of mature confessions, not centered around fights with my sisters and forgetting my bedtime prayers, are not very interesting. I was a...
The work our priests perform in “shepherding the flock” is extensive and often taken for granted. The vocation extends far beyond Sunday and daily Mass, weddings, baptisms, spiritual direction, funerals, and myriad blessings, among other things. The church we visit...
You can find images of Mary throughout my day - tiny figurines on my bookshelves, a TinySaint keychain on my bag, a fun sticker on my laptop or Stanley cup, and even Marian images in my phone camera roll that I stumbled upon and loved. I’ve heard that many converts...
There are many things that I wish I knew when I was younger. One of those is that a man’s primary core need is to be respected. Women desire to be respected too, but men equate love with respect. To them, to be respected is to be loved. I have learned that I’m a...
“I don’t have the time.”“I’m too tired.”“I’ve tried everything, and nothing works.”“I can’t do it perfectly, so what’s the point of trying?”“I started off motivated, but now I just don’t feel like it.” Sound familiar? These are just the tip of the iceberg when it...