Bishop Robert Barron is the Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles and probably the most active Catholic leader on social media. His YouTube videos on a host of topics have enriched and strengthened Christians everywhere. I am indebted to Father Barron for pointing out that there are two kinds of “no” in the world. It is […]

My wife and I recently had an experience on an airplane flight which was a first for us. The flight was boarded and the door was shut. We had already gone through the normal pre-flight safety talks and were taxiing out to the main runway, when the person next to us unbuckled his seatbelt and […]

It has now become part of the annual ritual to hear Christians express their frustration when they hear someone say, “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas.” It has become the new “ground zero,” in the larger battle over the role of Christianity in western culture. Every purchase in a store becomes a new test, and […]

Advent is a time of hope and expectation as we both remember and anticipate. My favorite Advent hymn is Charles Wesley’s “Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus” because it captures the longing so well. I would like to highlight four ways or lens through which we should think about Advent. We often designate the four candles […]

This is the 14th and final installment in this blog series on the theology of the body. If you want to listen to the messages, they are found by clicking “listen.” — The scope of what has been covered is quite vast, but we will conclude with some pastoral advice in how these issues are […]

This is the 13th part in this series on the Theology of the Body. If you want to listen to the messages, they are found by clicking “listen” on the home page of my website. — In this article I want to address the two primary ways these images influence men and women. For men, […]

This is the twelfth part in this series on the theology of the body. If you want to listen to the messages, they are found by clicking “listen” on the home page of my website. – One of the dominant themes of this blog series is that the body is not merely a biological, functional […]

This is the eleventh part in this series on the theology of the body. If you want to listen to the messages, they are found by clicking “listen” on the home page of my website. — This particular piece in this blog series seeks to explore whether the mystery of Christ and the Church informs […]

This is the tenth part in this series highlighting key insights from John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. – The word “incarnation” is taken from John 1:14: “the word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  The word incarnation simply means “in the flesh.”  At a particular time—in the fullness of time—the eternal Second person […]

This is the ninth part in this series highlighting key insights from John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. — This morning I woke up and during my exercises I saw a commercial on the television set which was quite amazing. A large x-ray screen was set up and through the screen the viewer sees […]