We generally approach life with the question, “What can this do for me?” We try a new workout, a low-carb diet, intermittent fasting, or a new career path, hoping it will make us healthier, stronger, happier. The assumption is that if I invest in this, I’ll eventually reap some benefit, or I won’t do it.

It is easy to think of faith the same way: if I really practice my faith, what will it do for me? Will it make me calmer, more moral, more successful?

Happy Easter!

During this week, we remember priestly vocations as we listen to the voice of Jesus, our Good Shepherd, and to pray for more men to enter the priesthood. Listening is important because Jesus provides a distinct contrast between the false shepherd and good shepherd. The false shepherd comes to steal, kill, and destroy, while He comes to give life “in abundance.”

Happy Easter!

Our Easter season continues with the bold proclamation of Saint Peter saying Christ has risen in the Acts of the Apostles and the two disciples’ hearts are set on fire when our Blessed Lord walks with them. Both passages address the same human struggle when life is heavy, we can become discouraged, confused, or “slow of heart.” The Lord does not leave us there. He comes near, speaks, and makes Himself known.

“Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.’” (John 20:27)

In my early 20s, I volunteered at a parish youth group. I witnessed teens encountering Jesus with a fresh, romantic wonder that reminded me of my own teenage conversion. But something had changed in me.

Happy Easter!

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! On this Easter Sunday we are invited to stand at the empty tomb with Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John where the first instances of light penetrate the darkness of Good Friday. Upon arriving at the tomb in the early hours of the morning, these witnesses encounter signs that shatter despair: the stone rolled away, the linens left behind, the head cloth neatly folded.