Like all fathers, I have great hopes and dreams for my son. I’ve been saving for his college education since before I met his mother, and I am only half joking when I say that anything less than Harvard will be a failure. When he lays his little head down at night, though, I am… Read More A Prayer for My Son
To celebrate the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, I have tried to complete all of the Works of Mercy during this past year. As it turns out, it is a lot easier to feed the hungry and visit the sick than it is to counsel the doubtful or to bear wrongs patiently. Last weekend, just a… Read More Bring on the Revolution of Mercy
I have always been enamored by the Angelus. It’s one of my favorite prayers, although I don’t pray it as often as I should. It is short, but so much is contained within it. It is also the history of the prayer that attracts me, and particularly the relevance the prayer had in Ireland, my… Read More The 21st Century Angelus Bells
I have a confession to make. Actually, I already made it. On December 8th, the opening of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, I was absolved of a whole lot of sins for the first time in a long time. A really, really long time. It wasn’t laziness or a fear of the confessional that kept… Read More #SorryNotSorry: My return to the Sacrament of Reconciliation
Of my many, many shortcomings, the one I perhaps dislike most is that I am not easily impressed. It is a fault born of a blessed life, but a fault none the less. On my second and final day of pre-Cana last weekend I tried, not always successfully, to keep this in mind. Like on… Read More Time for a More Personal Approach to Marriage Prep?
For a recovering political junkie like myself, it was fascinating to watch the 2014 and 2015 assemblies of the Synod of Bishops, each of which focused on family life in the 21st century. I followed every development, story, and twist closely, and I, like many, am eagerly waiting to see what Pope Francis will decide… Read More My Not Entirely Enthusiastic Trip to Marriage Prep
The population of my hometown in 1801 was 2,000 hardy souls. On September 10th of that year, 10,000 people gathered on the Town Common. What caused the population to swell to five times its usual size? A good old fashioned hanging. Earlier that year, Jason Fairbanks murdered his girlfriend—or failed in his half of a… Read More If We Are Going To Kill Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, We Shouldn’t Sanitize It or Turn Away
Millennial 