There is a fascinating history in the early Church of Christians paying ransoms to free other Christians from their captors. This was especially true during the Crusades. There was even a religious Order of Knights, known as the Mercedarians, who were founded to organize the collecting of funds,...

There is an interesting dynamic that plays itself out in the spiritual lives of many souls. It is the struggle between the conflicting attitudes of one being wholly indifferent and of one practicing Holy Indifference. To be wholly indifferent means that a person is not particularly concerned...

“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became...

When the Lord heals, He almost always heals from the inside out. Referring to the inside does not mean that He heals only internal disease, damage or infection. But rather, that He wants to heal the whole person, and in order to do this He must begin by healing the interior life of a person. An...

If finding true peace within our souls is something one desires, and it should be, as it is an absolute prerequisite for effective prayer, then we need to ask, what is it that will allow us to establish ourselves in peace? When looking for guidance in Scripture, we can never go wrong by looking...

We have all heard this line before. Most of us probably heard it first from our parents when they tried to help us come to grips with the hard times that life inevitably doles out to all of us. No doubt many, if not all of us, have said this to ourselves a few times throughout our life. And...

This reflection addresses one of the most challenging issues any of us might encounter in our lives. It is the all too common experience of dealing with a significant disability or serious illness. If we or a loved one have had to go through this experience, we may wonder just how to reconcile...

Does the picture above look familiar to any of you? It does if you are a Boston Red Sox fan. This small park is a replica of the famous Fenway Park in Boston, home of the equally famous Boston Red Sox. It is actually a field that was built in a town named Essex Jct., in the state of Vermont, and...

Every single minute we spend with our knees bent and our heads bowed in prayer, we literally release ourselves from the bondage and burden of this earthly life. Thanks be to God. This release is best described as a healing of anything that impedes our ability to love. Think of what a gift...

Jesus tells the parable in Scripture of the individuals who receive an invitation to a Wedding Feast, but many of them find excuses for not attending. Then Jesus said to him, “Someone gave a great dinner and invited many. At the time for the dinner he sent his slave to say to those who had...

Imagine if you will, that you took a copy of the morning newspaper, turned it upside down and then tried to read and make sense of it. This example actually comes from the French philosopher Simone Weil, when she attempted to describe how we humans experience our eternal reality and our...

Just what is it that leads us through this life? This is a question we should ask ourselves and wrestle with from time to time. However, we should do this only after we have wrestled with the first and more immediate question: where we are going in this life? Or perhaps more accurately, what is...

There is a very simple question we Christians should wrestle with at some point in our lives; indeed, we should wrestle with it continuously. Do we believe in a God of Love? Do we really believe that the One who created the Universe, who holds the stars in place, who created and maintains the...

If you appreciate straight talk, the Gospel of John has a great way of getting to the point. “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” (John 6:63-64) These are some...

Recently I was reminded of a wonderful movie of faith, courage and redemption. It was the story from the book Unbroken, which is about the life of Louie Zamperini, an American who ran the 5000 meter in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Louie was later drafted as a gunner aboard B-24 Bombers during WWII...

What would you say is your greatest Hope? What is the one thing you would identify if you were pressed to offer only one answer to this question – What is your greatest Hope? Scripture actually has a great deal to say about this virtue of Hope, not the least of which: For everything that was...

There is often as important a lesson in what Christ did not say as there is in what He did say. When Christ was brought before the Chief Priests and the whole Sanhedrin on the night of His Passion, some men were brought in to testify against Him. Christ was forced to listen to their false...

Do you want to see God? It’s probably not something we think about every day, but perhaps it should be. Truthfully, none of us knows when we might have the opportunity to see God. It is reasonable to assume that many of us are not entirely sure whether we are ready for the event. Or maybe many...

I know it is customary during the Lenten Season for us to start reflecting on the great victories we will experience on Easter Sunday: the victory over sin and death; the victory over the enemy of this world; the victory over pain and sickness, heartache and fear, everything that would rob us of...

It might be a tough message to hear, but truthfully, it is often our very difficulties in this life that represent our greatest blessings. In fact, that is exactly what St. Paul tells us in his Second letter to the Corinthians. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the...