You Can Check Out, But You Can Never Leave
Hotel California by the Eagles, generally considered to be an allegorical analysis of the shadowy, more unedifying elements of questionably modern cultural improvements and evolution, features the timeless words, You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. I’ll take some liberty and apply this to the Sacrament of Baptism. In B...
Blowing Your Own Whistle: On Being Catholic Without the Church
It has been 58 years, but the lesson learned from the incident still resonates in my journey as a 2019 Catholic Christian. In the fall of 1961, my teammates and I were in the midst of a dream football season. It was only our second year in the newly consolidated northeast Iowa consolidated school called Turkey Valley High (chosen because it was ne...
Humility & Study
Men who take on the Exodus 90 challenge are urged to make study a central part of their lives starting at “day 91.” This is very fitting—because Exodus 90, if done rightly, is humbling. Through the experience of discomfort in ascetical practices, struggling to be fervent in prayer, and the challenges associated with fraternity, men who do...