Category: Articles

The Best Way to Glorify God is to Become a Saint Articles

The Best Way to Glorify God is to Become a Saint

I've got a secret to tell you. Well, it's actually not a secret, but we tend to act like it is. We tend to keep it a secret, because we don't want to challenge ourselves or others to do anything extraordinary. God doesn't want you and I to be ordinary, He wants us to be extraordinary. He has a plan for us, a purpose for our lives. God wants you to glorify Him and the best way you can glorify God is to become a saint. This is your purpose.
Why You Shouldn’t Shy Away from “The World” Articles

Why You Shouldn’t Shy Away from “The World”

Too often Christians are quick to set themselves apart from "the World", with the mindset that like the ancient Israelites, we will be made unclean. This is the easy way to do Christianity, but it's a half step. Those famous NOTW (Not of this World) bumper stickers can kind of send the wrong message if what they cause us to do is separate ourselves from the world, because as Christians we are supposed to go out into the world and transform it. We can never achieve our mission as the Church if we don't go out into the world.
Why Faith is Good for the World Articles

Why Faith is Good for the World

In our discussions of faith we often hear the argument—actually, it's more like an excuse—that "faith is good for you, but not for me". Relativism and a self-centered culture are to blame for this point of view, but faith is more than just an idea. Faith is not an individual experience or preference. Faith is good for everyone, and we all have it—notably, in different amounts and in different things—but faith in God, as Pope Francis puts it, is good for the whole world.
Transfigured: Why You Can’t Be Fully Alive All By Yourself Articles

Transfigured: Why You Can’t Be Fully Alive All By Yourself

I watched a surprisingly good movie with my wife yesterday. It's a film about a group of young friends whose lives are forever changed when they start having babies. The story line wasn't anything out of the ordinary, in fact, for this reason it really connected with us—we being new parents and all. However, that's not the only thing I liked about the movie.
Leading Your Family to God Articles

Leading Your Family to God

Last week, my wife had found a printer on Craig's List for a great deal. When we brought it home and found that it didn't work as promised by the seller, we were both disappointed. I tried fixing it to no avail and we grew even angrier. As Christians you try to see other people as honest and trustworthy. My wife told me she wanted to send the guy a nasty message, but I urged her not to.
Why Faith is Meant to Be Shared and How to Do It Articles

Why Faith is Meant to Be Shared and How to Do It

Faith is both a gift and an invitation into a love relationship with God. And upon entering into this relationship of faith, we feel such an urge within to share this faith with others. Today we'll see what Pope Francis has to say about sharing our faith from the third chapter of his encyclical Lumen Fidei—the Light of Faith.
Finding Power in Persistence Articles

Finding Power in Persistence

For most people when faced with a challenge we are willing to try once or twice, but continued failure and the opposition can easily discourage us and quickly we throw in the towel. The Christian life requires persistence. When we face temptation we cannot give in. When we fail to live up to God's standards, we can't just quit. Only with persistence and complete trust in the grace of God are we able to overcome life's challenges.
Our Father: Jesus’ Formula for Prayer Articles

Our Father: Jesus’ Formula for Prayer

Although prayer is a central part of the Christian faith and we talk about it all the time, we are hardly ever taught how to pray. There are many methods and types of prayer, but none is better than another. In the Gospel reading this Sunday we heard the disciples ask Jesus a very important question: Teach us how to pray, Lord. His response was the Our Father.
Why Faith is Like a Burning Fire Articles

Why Faith is Like a Burning Fire

Today we dive deeper into the meaning of faith as expressed by Pope Francis in his encyclical letter Lumen Fidei—the Light of Faith—especially the second chapter in which he further explains that faith is not just a belief in God, but rather a relationship with Him.
It’s About Time for a Vocation Articles

It’s About Time for a Vocation

Yes, vocation not vacation! I think for most of us it's pretty clear that we have some kind of purpose in life. If life is just chance and our existence meaningless, then there is no real objective truth, feelings don't matter, life is not sacred, people have no real dignity, we are all just blobs of cells. However, as Christians we see life as a gift from God—the Creator of all things, pure being Himself. And this changes everything. He created us with a plan in mind for us to do great things. He made us for Heaven—to become saints—and calls us each into deeper union with Him so that with His help we can live up to our potential, becoming the best-version-of-ourselves.
Mission: How to Evangelize the World and Do it with Love Articles

Mission: How to Evangelize the World and Do it with Love

I spent this past Sunday at Mission San Juan Capistrano—one of the 21 missions in California—with my wife and son. Not only was it an educational experience, but it reminded me of our missionary roots which I think we really need to remember. After all, the Church exists to evangelize. That is our sole purpose and mission.
Faith & Fidelity: A Relationship with God Articles

Faith & Fidelity: A Relationship with God

Christians are always talking about faith, but what is faith and why is it important? Pope Francis recently released his first encyclical letter Lumen Fidei—the Light of Faith—and he has provided us with some great insights into the life of faith. Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to go through the letter chapter by chapter exploring the richness of his pastoral teaching.