One of my favorite scenes in Return of the King is Sam and Frodo sitting together as Mt. Doom erupts around them. When Frodo says, “I am glad you’re with me Samwise Gamgee, here at the end of all things,” my heartstrings are always tugged because Frodo is reaching for the soul friendship. Love ‘till death. Boundless […]
Ephemeral Hope I possess an intellectual spirituality that makes me shy away from an outward display of faith-filled emotions. I prefer internal intensity. I also fear how such emotions are temporary. Ephemeral feelings should not be the foundation of the spiritual life. Although, we certainly benefit from the good times, those windswept moments of conversion […]
Moral relativism bothers me for numerous reasons, but the greatest annoyance I have is relativism’s consistent use of illogical reasoning and justification. Besides selfishness, relativism’s only consistent attribute is being illogical. I find this frustrating because several friends buy into relativism lock, stock, and barrel without a second thought. By illogical I should say I […]
Why do we fear coming to God? Why does turning to God come only once we have no where else to turn in our trials? Rather than God being first, we turn instead to friends, family, spouses, culture, society, and only when other sources are exhausted do we turn to Christ in prayer. Obviously, these […]
Manliness. Thanks to websites like the Art of Manliness, Catholic Gentlemen, Whiskey Catholic and many others, the internet is a buzz with discussion of what makes a man a man. What traits, virtues, and abilities must a man exhibit to be considered a true man, and not an adolescent adult? Is he judged by his […]
My brother and I could be rambunctious children. There were times our rowdiness more than made up for the fact there was only two of us. One moment leaps to mind. We were roughly 12 and 9. Our dad had gone out on an errand and we were told to stay quiet while our mom, […]
Everyone loves seeing the babies baptized early Sunday morning. Some squeal with delight while others cry their eyes out as the cold Holy Water runs across their heads. I’m always curious though about who the parents chose as godparents for their child. If physical similarities matter, many seem to have chosen a sibling or two […]
Facebook promotes a very odd concept of ’knowing’ someone, and it has led to the further warping of our sense of friendship. My experience, like many of you, has been a passing meeting with someone leads to a friend request. But, we are not friends. We are barely acquaintances and yet we claim to know […]
Fr. Ronald Knox, an English Catholic of the early 20th century and convert, gave retreats and talks to lay people to help them deepen and improve their spiritual life. In his Spiritual Guidance for Christian Living: A Retreat for Lay People, he gathers two dozen talks and homilies written for lay people and the troubles they […]
Action, fantasy, westerns, or any movie including a hero and a villain will usually peek my interest. The Marvel films captured my imagination’s child-like side. The side which wants to believe in the ultimate triumph of good through the feats of a few broken yet resilient individuals who refuse to admit defeat for no other […]
One of my fondest memories at Baylor was when I first walked downstairs and into the wonder that was my dorm’s cafeteria. Far away from home, I reveled in the sheer number of choices before me with no one to tell me which foods were appropriate to eat or laugh at odd combos. From breakfast […]
