Reading Francis

We have a snake in our backyard. He’s a 2-3 foot black racer, and he likes to hang out on the rocks by our garden hoses, so I call him Rocky. I had a pet grass snake for a little while when I was young, so I don’t mind Rocky. April is another story. I’ve… Read more: The Impracticality of Hope

How do we treat a traitor? Trust in institutions is broad and deep. We distrust almost everyone, it seems, and along with that distrust comes the feeling that people are betraying us, selling us out for power or wealth.  Maybe it’s insurance executives delaying and denying claims so they can pocket more profit, or private… Read more: Traitors

Did you know that I wrote a book? Are you looking for a book of short daily reflections that you can read this Advent season? Did you plan to buy my book, but never got around to it? Have you bought my book, loved it, and want to share it with others? If any of… Read more: Free Book!

How are we living the dream? Catholics celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran on November 9th every year, and the Scripture passages for that day are an interesting mix: Jesus cleanses the Temple in the Gospel (John 2), Ezekiel dreams about life-giving water flowing from the Temple in Ezekiel 47, and… Read more: Living the Dream

Who’s on your team? Today’s Mass readings include a great passage from Romans 12 that is translated in a way that makes it more engaging: Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them:  if prophecy, in proportion to the faith; if ministry, in ministering; if one… Read more: Who’s on your team?

The Bible readings for the Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time (October 26, 2025) seems tailor-made for Pope Leo XIV’s newly released apostolic exhortation, Dilexi te. The first reading from Sirach dwells on God hearing the cry of the oppressed, the wail of the orphan and widow, the prayer of the lowly.* The Psalm response is… Read more: Pharisee or Tax Collector?

If you are a Catholic nerd deeply engaged Catholic, this is probably not your post. But if you saw some quotes from Pope Leo about poverty (that weren’t fake), and you were just curious enough to learn some rudimentary things about this document that the quotes came from, I am here for you. Let’s do… Read more: Dilexi te?

Who is Jesus to you? I’ve been asked that by a couple of people recently, and, to be honest, my answer to that is pretty flat. I know the “right” answer, but the reality is that I’ve always found it easier to relate to God through the (non-anthropomorphized) Holy Spirit than through the person of… Read more: Lazarus, all

What must it be like to fall apart in front of tens of thousands of people? What must it be like to be a performer, on-stage, unable to sing the song you made, the one that made you famous? Sometimes people who aren’t religious think that Christians have a delusional sense that, with enough belief,… Read more: Broken and Beautiful

Pope Leo has asked Catholics to pray the rosary every day in October as a call for peace.  I’ve never really been one to pray the rosary. As a convert, I didn’t grow up with the devotion, and I’m still pretty sure I don’t have the whole order of prayers quite right. Beyond that, rote… Read more: Rosary for Peace

At what point do our scruples do more harm than good? Scrupulosity is not a term you hear a lot these days, even though I think it’s a burgeoning condition now in both secular and sacred circles. (We tend to go with the more pathological term, OCD.) Back in the day, Jesus poked at the… Read more: Scruples

The main thing is to make the main thing the main thing. I mentioned earlier this week that the daily Mass readings this week cover the return to Jerusalem and rebuilding of the Temple, but one of those readings has really stuck with me all week, because I think it speaks to a larger question… Read more: Main Thing

To whom do we belong? I’ve been thinking a lot about a truism about religion that social scientists point out. For most of us, our faith (including secularism as a form of faith) isn’t so much something we adopt through reason, or something to whose principles we assent cognitively.  Instead, for most of us, we… Read more: To Whom Do We Belong?

It was a murder so heinous that it shocked the nation. So much did it command the national attention that, even in a gun-soaked country grown weary of mass shootings, the President of the United States traveled to join family members in mourning the lost. Staggering everyone, the spouse of the victim forgave the killer.… Read more: To Forgive, Divine

The Bible readings that Catholics use at Mass this week are an interesting mix that, taken together, seem to underscore that God sees things very differently than the culture around us  does. There’s a passage from Paul’s first letter to Timothy that actually shows up twice, in the Monday daily Mass and then again this… Read more: How God Sees Things

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. – Colossians 1:17 This verse is part of a hymn about Christ that St. Paul quotes at the beginning of his letter to the Colossians. It’s a bold theological statement about the second person of the Trinity – that Christ, who we Christians… Read more: Holding Together

From what do you need to be freed? Luke 1:68 is the opening verse of a prayer, “The Canticle of Zechariah,” that some Catholics pray every morning: Blessed be the Lord,The God of Israel;He has come to His people and set them free. Lately I’ve been stuck on this verse, and the question it raises:… Read more: Freedom

What does it mean, really, for Christianity to be countercultural? One thing you hear a lot in Christian circles is that Christians are called to be countercultural. Usually (like virtually all things American), this notion means something different, depending on which side of our societal divide you inhabit. Traditionalist Christians tend to equate being countercultural… Read more: Countercultural

Last Sunday’s Old Testament passage from Deuteronomy was a beautiful passage from Moses on how the law of God is written on our hearts, and the Gospel was the Parable of the Good Samaritan, so my guess is that nobody paid much attention to the second reading, Colossians 1:15-20. But Paul says something interesting in… Read more: All the Things

Do you trust me? I don’t know if you ever have this experience, but I have found that some themes, questions, and challenges keep coming back to me, generally because I haven’t satisfactorily addressed them before. How many times have we committed to getting to Mass early, or at least on time? How many times… Read more: Take Three

If our new American pope, Leo XIV, has a theme in these too-early-for-definition days of his papacy, it is the theme of peace. His first remarks after election began with a call to peace, and he has been a consistent and vocal advocate for peace amidst the growing strife of our decidedly unpeaceful world. As… Read more: Peaceful Patriots

Be like … Paul? Even though Paul was my father’s name, my middle name, my confirmation name, and the author of half the New Testament books, he’s not one of my favorite saints. He was crazy smart and went non-stop, but it’s hard to read his letters without thinking he was also really high drama.… Read more: Be like Paul?

So what? Last Sunday was the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity for Catholics – basically there’s a lineup of deep-topic feast days on Sundays from Ascension to Pentecost to Trinity Sunday to Corpus Christi that celebrate different important but hard to grasp theological concepts. If you are the type that thinks that faith is… Read more: Trinity Sunday

I never intended to become the Papal Meme Police. I blame Esteban for turning me into an internet Javert. It started after the death of Pope Francis, when my social media feed was filled with friends posting the heartwarming yet completely false story of Esteban, the alleged dog who refused to leave the side of… Read more: Papal Meme Police

“My sheep hear my voice.” – John 10:27 I wanted to return to something Pope Leo XIV said to the College of Cardinals in his meeting with them on the day after his election. In what seems to be his first draft of a program for his papacy, Leo underscored his commitment to build on… Read more: Listening Sheep

Better him than me. Before I dig into something Pope Leo XIV said to the College of Cardinals over the weekend in another post, I just wanted to take a moment of gratitude that I don’t have his job. Today he had a meeting with some of the 6,000 accredited media who have been covering… Read more: Better Him Than Me

I am eager to hear more. My first impressions of Pope Leo XIV, based on his “Urbi et Orbi” message, delivered at his introduction as the new pontiff, and the homily he gave at his first mass with the College of Cardinals after his election, are very encouraging. Two short addresses, given to different audiences… Read more: First Impressions: Urbi et Orbi and First Homily

Second Day Thoughts on Pope Leo XIV More later.

Here’s what I posted on Facebook today. I plan to write more reflective notes on what Pope Leo XIV from the balcony and what that might mean for the Church tomorrow. OK Real quick because I have a day job: 1) I think this is a great if extremely surprising choice. There’s been a longstanding… Read more: Habemas Papam

I’m glad I’m not a Catholic bishop in the US. In the Gospels, Jesus saves his harshest words for religious leaders that lead their followers astray. I think especially of Matthew 18, where, after saying that his followers should humble themselves like a little child, he says, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who… Read more: Millstones

What are you filled with? During the Easter season, the Church uses passages of the Acts of the Apostles instead of the Old Testament for the first reading at Mass, which I love, because it’s my favorite book (even if the mass readings skip over the best parts of the book). I noticed something new… Read more: What Are You Filled With?

Though an unexpected choice, the new pope quickly won the hearts, not only of the faithful, but of others around the world with his humility, humor and ability to express an authentic connection with common, everyday people. He was a tireless advocate for peace who interceded with world leaders to try to end global conflicts.… Read more: Be Not Surprised

Who’s next? I’ve been working on surrendering, the Lenten discipline that I did not ask for, with mixed success. On the one hand, I am learning that the Christian life is largely a series of invitations to surrender – to surrender the illusion that you can control … much of anything; to surrender the idea… Read more: Who’s Next?

Last summer, I went on retreat in Assisi with an outline I called “Francis x Francis”, and I don’t think I ever got around to sharing it here. The bottom line, though, is that I think you can find a lot of similarities between the life and teaching of Pope Francis and those of the… Read more: A Saint and a Pope

It’s going to be OK. It was the election of Pope Francis that got me into all this. In March 2013, I was in the back of a taxi in Washington, DC, when I heard the announcement that Jorge Bergoglio had been elected to succeed Pope Benedict XVI. At that point, I had been Catholic… Read more: It’s Going to Be OK

Where are you this Holy Week? For those of you who are Catholic, Holy Week – starting with Palm Sunday and ending with Easter – includes a LOT of listening to Bible stories. Especially if you participate in the Triduum – marked by the services on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil on… Read more: Holy Week

A couple quick things about the readings chosen by the Church for the 4th Sunday of Lent (which was today).  The Gospel is the parable of the Prodigal Son from Luke 15, one of the most famous stories Jesus tells. It’s worth noting (I think I heard Luke Johnson say this) that the context for… Read more: Reconciling

Altissimu, omnipotente bon Signore, Tue so le laude, la gloria e l’honore et onne benedictione. One year I tried to give up impatient driving for Lent. That didn’t go so great. Count me among those who can’t wait for autonomous vehicles to replace all the other drivers on the road. Ad Te solo, Altissimo, se… Read more: Canticle of Lent

I was kind of hoping I could just give up social media for Lent. Actually, that was my plan – to give up scrolling, as I did last year. God had other plans, I guess.  While I was praying on Ash Wednesday about what was getting in the way of me trusting God, what I… Read more: Surrender

I don’t usually post Bible verses by themselves. I figure you all have access to a Bible, or the internet, or both. But this passage, from Sirach (which is not in Protestant Bibles, though it was likely a passage Jesus knew), deserves it’s own spotlight: “A kind mouth multiplies friends and appeases enemies, And gracious… Read more: Friends (not the show)

You first. Starting with yesterday’s Gospel, the readings for daily mass have some challenging things to say about how we Christians ought to act. Yesterday, we heard: “Love your enemies,  do good to those who hate you,  bless those who curse you,  pray for those who mistreat you.” And: “Give to everyone who asks of… Read more: You first

We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works. We should not stay away from the assembly, as is the custom of some, but encourage one another, and this all the more as you see the day drawing near. Hebrews 10:24-25 This passage from today’s first mass reading stuck with me… Read more: Staying Together

Today the Catholic Church celebrates St. Thomas Aquinas, a 13th century Domincan priest and maybe the smartest Christian ever. His work brought together Christian theology and classical Greek philosophy in ways that show that faith and reason are not oppositional. In fact, for Aquinas the two perfect each other.  Three quick things about Aquinas worth… Read more: St. Thomas Aquinas

God, grant me the serenityto accept the things I cannot changethe courage to change the things I canand the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time,enjoying one moment at a time.Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace.Taking, as he did, the sinful world as it is,not as I would have it.Trusting… Read more: Serenity Prayer, Full Version

I have been blessed a few times over recent months by people I know who have asked my advice on whether to say something that might be emotionally risky to people they love. As I’ve listened to them describe the situation and what they want to express, I found myself asking a question that I… Read more: The Who Matters

Is Disney a cult? I mentioned recently that, while I have spent time exploring the ways in which football is America’s true religious practice, I haven’t really given Disney the same treatment. So let me take a stab at fixing that. For those who haven’t read Abandoning Temples, its premise is that one thing that… Read more: The Cults of Disney and Football

You could do worse. At some point last year, I was reading a daily devotional that had the message that parents needed to inculcate in their children the stories that tell them who they are, or else Disney will do it for you. And my thought at that moment was, “You could do worse.” I’ll… Read more: You Could Do Worse

OK, so, when you’re too sick to go to any of the Christmas masses, part of the makeup assignment is to read the readings for all the variations of masses – Christmas Eve vigil, Christmas mass during the night, Christmas mass at dawn (which probably isn’t too crowded), Christmas mass during the day. It’s not… Read more: Completing the course

This year, I sort of missed Christmas.  For whatever reason, it seems like Christmas is a time when people in our family get sick. For some, it’s the pace of work at the end of the year; my sister-in-law who worked in bookstores often collapsed when the stores finally closed for Christmas, for instance. For… Read more: My La Befana Christmas

We have a Stage 5 God, a Stage 4 Church, and too many Stage 3 leaders. One of my favorite books on leadership is Tribal Leadership by Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright. Their approach presupposes that people are social in nature, that workplaces are essentially tribes (or tribes of tribes, if they’re big… Read more: Stage 5 God

To love is to pay joyful attention to another in ways that communicate mutual belonging, inherent mattering, and gratitude. After finishing Fr. Greg Boyle’s latest book, Cherished Belonging, I found myself searching for a better definition of love. The classical Christian definition from St. Thomas Aquinas, to love is to will the good of another,… Read more: To Love and To Cherish

In Luke 21 (which is the Gospel for the first week of Advent this year), Jesus warns his followers about a final judgment day, saying, “Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap.” Of course,… Read more: The Party and The Daily Grind