Your Past Does Not Disqualify You From Love

When I think of the happiness that is in store for me, every sorrow, every pain becomes dear to me. -St. Francis of Assisi If you’re the reader of this blog, you probably have a past.  For a lot of us, our past can be filled with great joy. And then I’m sure for a…

A Guide on Healing

In Christian circles, we hear about wounds and healing from those wounds all the time. We understand that these wounds are typically not physical, but rather they are deeply emotional; ones that have a lasting effect. But what does it mean to seek healing? What does it mean to ultimately be healed? Until fairly recently…

An Advent of Hope in a Season of Loneliness

These last months of the year can be some of the hardest and the craziest. Final exams, gearing up for holiday celebrations, deadlines at work, and the busyness of daily life seem to be crescendoing. They become a cacophony of noise right before Christmas and the new year. We are in the middle of the…

10 JPII Quotes To Get You Fired Up Today or Any Day:⠀

1. “Do not be afraid. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity. Put out into the deep and let out your nets for a catch.”⠀ 2. “It is necessary that the heroic becomes daily and that the daily becomes heroic.”⠀ 3. “Genuine love…is demanding. But its beauty lies precisely in the demands that it makes.”⠀ 4.…

Finding a Good Community

“Saints are like grapes, they come in bunches.” This is a quote that has stuck with me since the first time I heard it from a priest my freshman year of college. I was fresh out of high school and ready to take on the world, having moved three hours away from home to attend…

Do You Brush Your Teeth?: How Chastity and Brushing Your Teeth Are More Similar Than You Think.

When you were a kid did you ever totally forget to brush your teeth? Whether it was because you were staying up late  into the wee hours of the night making prank calls, snacking on pizza and oreos, or a late night post soccer tournament and you were dead exhausted? Because I know I totally…

Bullying, Repression, and Healing

I saw his face pop up from the seat in front of me. “Well, what do we have today?” I remained silent. The bus, far from being brand new, jumped and rattled violently with every little bump in the road it passed over. I clinched onto my lunch box tighter and stared out the window,…

Stepping up the the Plate to Be a Better Brother

I write this coming back home for the first time after several months of mission.  The window on my plane flight home presents to me a cloudy sky lit ablaze by the waning sunset. It’s dramatic and theatrical, much like my writing tone.  Mission life has given me a unique opportunity to reflect upon and…