REVEREND JOSEPH M. ESPER is a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit and pastor of Immaculate Conception parish in Anchorville, Michigan. He received his Master of Divinity degree from St. John's Provincial Seminary in Plymouth, Michigan. Through the years, Father Joe has lectured at Marian conferences, appeared on EWTN, spoken on Catholic radio, and written more than a dozen articles for This Rock, The Priest, Homiletic and Pastoral Review, and other publications. He is also the author of numerous books, including Saintly Solutions, More Saintly Solutions, After the Darkness, Lessons from the Lives of the Saints, and Why Is God Punishing Me? In addition to Amazon, many of his most recent books are available through Queenship Publishing.
There was once a missionary priest who had served for a number of years in Africa, and when he returned home to the United States he shared this description of an important lesson he had learned: “I had studied long and hard to learn the language of...
On the Fourth Sunday of Easter, the Church always emphasizes the importance of vocations and of seeking God’s guidance as we choose our careers, and sometimes on this occasion I like to ask our fourth graders in school what occupations they might...
Once there was a Native American reservation out West; some of the tribe’s members had been converted to Catholicism, but the nearest priest wasn’t able to visit them very often. One day a government agent came to the reservation with gifts for all...
The 1993 movie Shadowlands tells the story of the great English author C. S. Lewis, who wrote such classics as The Chronicles of Narnia, Mere Christianity, and The Screwtape Letters. An atheist as a young man, Lewis...
During World War II an American airman named John was blinded in an airplane explosion. He was discharged from the Army Air Corps, and for the next twelve years he couldn’t see a thing. During these years he lived for a time with his parents in...
Some years ago a group of rabbis were meeting to study and discuss the Talmud, the Jewish book of commentaries on Scripture and the Law of Moses. One of them suggested they take a break, and offered to pay for refreshments—if someone else would go...
On a warm Thursday evening one summer, a man named Rick was playing catch in the back yard with his eight-year-old son Jared. Rick could tell something was on Jared’s mind, but he waited until his son was ready to bring it up. Finally Jared asked...
If there were a magic pill or drug that lengthened your lifespan by eight or nine years, increased your salary by about $15,000 a year, and decreased your chances of ever being divorced from your spouse or estranged from your children, would you be...
