It’s 7 AM. The tent is folded, the cooler packed, and I’m gassing up at a filling station in Doe Run, Missouri. Yesterday, my dog, Guapo, and I logged over seven hundred miles on our Midwestern road trip. When the pump shuts off, I pull my truck next to the dumpsters at the edge of the parking lot. I turn off the ignition and offer Morning P...

by Fr. Matthias   Our knees make a thud as they hit the carpet floor, fingers sliding on the imaginary strings of our air guitars. Our young voices strain to the Boston classic: “All I want is to have my peace of mii-iiind!!” When the song ends, I shoot a glance at my best buddy in the third grade, Zeke. “I wonder what that means...

This article was previously published in Sword and Spade magazine. Around the issues of belonging and communion, marriage is front and center. Setting aside the flagrant disregard for the obvious nature of marriage today, Catholics of goodwill can still be more than confused in regards to what weddings they can/should attend and which they ought...

This article was previously published in Sword & Spade magazine. by Joshua Johnson Fourteen years ago, I married a girl who is a twin from a twin family. At her family reunions, it is the singletons who are the freaks. So, sure enough, the first time we conceived, it was twins! Surprisingly, the second and third pregnancies were singleton...

This article is an adaptation from Leaving Boyhood Behind (OSV, 2019). Genesis, the beginning of the story of salvation, can be understood as a battle over the meaning of power. God created the entire world and then sets man “in dominion” over it. This world is not democratic but is assigned rulers. The fish and birds rule the sea and air,...

In Father Sergius, a short story by Leo Tolstoy, a wealthy Russian nobleman enters a monastery under questionable motives, but ended up genuinely striving for holiness and virtue, and even finding that the battle for sanctity was worth it! Despite his progress, he constantly felt weak in his faith, and unceasingly begged God to grant more. He was ...

By Chris Fernandez   Looking at Biblical figures and stories of the Saints we find several examples of people who exemplified the virtue of fortitude; people like St. Thomas Moore who overcame great difficulty, temptation, and intense and often long suffering. These are prime examples of individuals who have allowed grace to transform th...

by Fr. Jack, Guest Contributor on https://priesthoodinsideout.org/ And He called twelve to be with him . .  and said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” It’s after midnight and near freezing. My buddy, Carter, and I stand still and peer into the canyon. It has sharp shadows. The moon lights...

My wife has recently encouraged me to resurrect the practice of my “commonplace notebook,” which is the recording of wise quotes and sayings that one comes across in reading or what have you. King Alfred the Great, who led the legendary expansion of Christianity, learning, and the defeat of many Viking strongholds in England, was said to have k...

Every song you love, every memory you cherish, every moment that has moved you to holy tears has been given to you from the One who has been pursuing you from your first breath in order to win your heart. John Eldredge   When a teenager attends a religious retreat, a moment arrives when he or she is handed a folder stuffed with lett...