Who Told You That You Were Naked?

There’s a picture somewhere from my childhood of me with 3 friends at a kid’s pool party. Despite how long ago it was, despite having forgotten the names of those girls, I can never shake that image from my mind. At a certain point, I stopped looking at the joy on our faces. All I…

We Are Not Consumables

Have you ever found yourself running through a list in your mind of all the things you have going for you, summarizing all the qualities and attributes that make up the best of you into a concrete selection of “desirables?” And once you have this list, have you ever mentally stacked yourself against the standards…

Your True Identity Lies in Christ

Our generation is facing a unique and intense struggle with identity.  There have never been more boxes we can put around ourselves: GPAs, physical appearances, and even Spotify Wrapped statistics. All of these descriptors, however trivial, can carry tremendous weight in the feedback loop that dominates our minds. The categories we put ourselves in, however…

Self-Loathing Isn’t Humility

When I was a kid, I was a huge fan of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5d’s, and one of my favorite characters on the show was Kalin Kessler. Kalin was this antagonist who turned into an anti-hero. As a kid, I liked Kalin so much because he had this dirty vagabond aesthetic, and I thought that was so…

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;…

Should We Morph Ourselves Into Their “Dream Girl/Boy”?

Thinking back throughout the course of my life, I’m ashamed to admit how often I pretended to be interested in several things just to get a guy’s attention. In fact, my senior year of High School was the most eminent example of this: It was then that I joined my school’s business club, attended every…

Men, We are Responsible for Women

Today in Catholic circles, discussions of modesty and controlling one’s eyes can very quickly become heated arguments that leave men and women alike feeling angry, disrespected, unheard, and ashamed.  The tension often rests on determining who bears the responsibility of upholding the other’s dignity. Is it up to the women to dress modestly so as…