St. Joseph does not draw attention to himself. He listens, and he acts, exemplifying what a disciple is: the one who hears “the word of God and acts on it” (Lk 8:21). Whenever we turn our attention to Joseph, we are led, by him and through him, to discover the God whom he heeded and the divine mission he served.
Why I Stopped Watching 'The Chosen'
I stopped watching “The Chosen” because I suddenly realized, in a deep and visceral way, that television was robbing me of what the hard work of imaginatively constructing biblical scenes in prayer affords me. The problem was not the content or the quality of the production, but the very medium itself.
Fostering Vocational Discernment, Part 2 (Letters to Parents Series VII)
There are many things vying for young people’s attention these days. Attention confers authority. Those who receive the most attention tend to wield the greatest influence over our lives, leading to the greatest authority of all: the authority to shape our desires. Whoever can shape young people’s desires most profoundly takes hold of not just the present but also the future.
Fostering Vocational Discernment, Part 1 (Letters to Parents Series VI)
Parents’ vocation is to help your children become capable of their vocations. Each vocation is the specific shape of one’s own discipleship, and discipleship itself is a matter of love. Discerning a vocation means learning how to perceive and respond to the Lord’s will within and through the concrete circumstances of your own life, for the good of others and thus for your own ultimate good.
Who do the crowds say that I am?
What blinds us to really seeing Jesus? At times, it might be overpromising, prepackaged spirituality exercises, like overhyped Lenten programs, that end up hooking us on slightly deviant images of God. The traditional practices of the Church, such as the instruction to fast, pray, and give alms in Lent, are comparatively underhyped. Might these, however, actually be remedies for our hidden idolatries and unperceived blindness?
What I'm Working On at the Turn of the Year
Christ, the Way to the Father
"Deliver Us from Evil"
"Lead Us Not Into Temptation"
"As We Forgive Those Who Trespass Against Us"
"Forgive Us Our Trespasses"
"Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread"
"Thy Will Be Done"
"Thy Kingdom Come"
Preparing to participate in the reign of God means laying aside our own schemes for building our little kingdoms and organizing our worlds the way we would like them to be. To herald the coming of God’s kingdom means confessing the provisional nature of our plans and welcoming the death of our private authority, our myth of “self-rule.” In Christ, disciples share in God’s reign, not vice versa.
"Hallowed Be Thy Name"
"Who Art in Heaven"
"Our Father"
Beginning Again with the Lord’s Prayer
I want to help us begin again with the Lord’s prayer – taking on a different approach and a new perspective. I want to see if you and I can learn how to humble ourselves in praying this prayer so that we may be formed by it. This is the prayer to “Our Father,” which means that by praying it we are, above all, allowing ourselves to be his children. That is the gift Jesus gives us: he gives us his Father as our Father.
