The Myth of Victimless Crimes

As missionaries who live in community with each other, good team bonding is crucial, and few things are more fun to bond over than a good movie. I always love having a great conversation after the movie, or, equally likely, during it—only to enhance the experience, of course. My teammates were in for a particular…

[Single] Life is Worth Living

In 1952, a Catholic bishop named Fulton Sheen won an Emmy Award for “Most Outstanding Television Personality.” His show appealed to as many as 10 million viewers each week. The title was simple, yet profound: Life is Worth Living. Through all sufferings, through all the impossibilities and fears which live rent-free in our mind, your…

Approaching the “Chastity Conversation”

I know from experience that talking about chastity with the person you are newly dating can be intimidating. When I first started going on dates with my current boyfriend, I was so nervous to tell him how I wanted to be in a chaste relationship.  Yet, after our second date, I knew I needed to…

Let God Love You

“The only thing you need to do to get to Heaven is let God love you.”  Stunned by my priest friend’s statement, I’ve spent the past several months bringing it to prayer. At first, it felt too simple, almost easy. The only thing I need to do to get to Heaven is let God love…

You are Not a Cosmic Accident

Did you ever hear those fairytale stories about how babies come into existence, like the stork that dropped Dumbo off to his mom in swaddling blankets? Well for me, I grew up believing that the FedEx shipping company dropped me off on my birthday. This was something my sister told me all of the time;…

Taylor Swift’s Guide to Confession

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge Taylor Swift fan, a fact that can be easily demonstrated by my uncanny ability to recognize her songs playing in public. In my Spotify Wrapped for 2021, she was my most listened to artist and I ranked in the top 4% of her listeners. One…

Fashion Reverences the Body

Over the past several decades, fashion has mistakenly become an oversexualized way for the culture to objectify the body. Since the creation of the bikini swimsuit in 1946, clothing designers have cultivated this culture of fashion for women that have defined femininity as something to be worn. Much of today’s trends are sought to expose…

How to Have a Good Conversation and Why it Matters

In a recent study of 20,000 adults in the U.S. 46% said that they sometimes or always felt alone, 43% felt like their relationships were not meaningful, 20% said they rarely felt close to others, and out of the young adults surveyed, 40% said they experienced significant loneliness.  In a period of time when we…