Catholic Journal

The Grace of Detachment

When I first read about Christian detachment it made perfect sense to me. All created things are God’s, so we appreciate them in context of their being His. It’s also true that I have never been particularly...

Catholicism’s Quandary About Sexuality

In the first part of the 20th century, the Church’s position on sexuality was clear: Sex outside of marriage was sinful; sex between a married man and woman was normal, as long as every act of intercourse...

Learning to Listen to God’s Words

Then, Nehemiah, that is, His Excellency, and Ezra, the priest-scribe and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all the people: “Today is holy to the LORD your God. Do not be sad, and do not...

The Virtue of Parrhesia within the New Testament

One of the main keywords which feature prominently in Pope Francis’ teaching magisterium is parrhesia. It is interesting to trace back this word in order for us to appreciate its usage within the Pope’s...

The Stranger on the Plane

A freshman wit, named John Bat Masterson, became friends with me and my roommate Peter in our sophomore year at the Cross. He was a very nervous and quirky fellow who quickly became the brunt of...

Family Prayer and Devotion to the Blessed Mother

Venerable Patrick Peyton (1909-92), known as the “Rosary Priest” because of the many large rosary rallies he led throughout the world, popularized the phrase “The family that prays together, stays together...

All Essays

Everything Will Be Clean for Us

I wish to place before you an image of goalposts. And now, with this image embedded in your imagination, let us twist it and imagine these earthly goalposts as divine. Now regarding divine goalposts, I would wager that...

A Blessing from My Friend

It is fairly common for an obituary to overstate the good qualities of the deceased person as a courtesy. In the case of a friend of mine who died a few weeks before Christmas 2024, no such courtesy was needed. Every...

The Influencer We Are Called to Be

In today’s fast-moving, constantly changing society, there are a number of occupations or lifestyles that didn’t even exist as recently as twenty years ago. One of these is that of influencers: namely, persons—usually...

The Jesus Question Revisited

I find that the Jesus question is as vital as it was the last time, I brought it under my microscope. In fact, it still looms as the most important question any of us can answer. To live in a society that thrives on...

Singing for the Lord

I love to sing and have been doing so all my life. It began at home, my father being a singer in the Neapolitan tradition. In Miami I began singing with Community chorales and church choirs. Then I performed in theater...

Sweet Charity

I don’t mean to make him look like a fool or make him look incompetent. He is competent. But there are limits to competence. It’s not magical. We just think that it is sometimes. We think that we can draw a little...