June is the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Isn’t it nice that the Catholic Church celebrates all sorts of fancy and beautiful celebrations all year long? In May, we celebrated Mary, and in June, it is the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Pray More Novenas has begun the Sacred Heart Novena, which you can join here. It ends on Friday, June 11, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (you should go to Mass that day).

I was thinking about the idea of the heart of Jesus, and hearts generally, and remembered an article I wrote a couple years ago, called “There is No Saint of the Broken Hearted.” The bottom line of that article is that the reason there are no saints of heartbreak is because that is the role Jesus fills. We have him to mend our hearts; his sacred heart already understands human heartbreak because he experienced it, too.

A programming note: the Morning Air show has changed hosts and staff, and I am working on getting reintroduced and back on the air with them regularly. I hope to continue appearing there - it is just a lot of fun!

May you have a blessed and peaceful month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Please pray for me, and I will do the same for you.

Latest article: When You Want to Give Back to God

Hi all! My latest article is up at Catholic Stand, called “When You Want to Give Back to God.”

It was inspired by a conversation had on the Morning Air program a few weeks back. My favorite thing was being able to incorporate a bit of scripture that has importance for me; during Lent a couple years ago I took this part down from one first readings in the run-up to Lent, printed it, and sent it in cards to friends and family. That was one of the things I “added” during that Lent. Here it is, Sirach 35:1-13:

“To keep the law is to make many offerings; whoever observes the commandments sacrifices a peace offering.  By works of charity one offers fine flour, and one who gives alms presents a sacrifice of praise.

“To refrain from evil pleases the Lord, and to avoid injustice is atonement.  Do not appear before the Lord empty-handed, for all that you offer is in fulfillment of the precepts.

“The offering of the just enriches the altar: a sweet odor before the Most High.  The sacrifice of the just is accepted, never to be forgotten.

“With a generous spirit pay homage to the Lord, and do not spare your freewill gifts.  With each contribution show a cheerful countenance, and pay your tithes in a spirit of joy.

“Give to the Most High as he has given to you, generously, according to your means.  For he is a God who always repays and will give back to you sevenfold.”

It hit me in a particular way not because it outlines what God demands (none of these things are things he demands, in fact) but because of how it ends: with the promise of God’s love and abundance. “He is a God who always repays and will give back to you sevenfold.”

Amen! And Happy Memorial Day. Praying for all those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we may enjoy our freedoms today.

The grand adventure

Greetings all!

With Pentecost last weekend, I was invited on to the Morning Air show to talk a bit about my own reversion story. You can listen here and the conversation begins at minute 11:10.

The most interesting part of this conversation for me was right around minute 19 when I explain to John that I feel like one of the lucky ones. It really is like I escaped something. More importantly, to my later point, the point where you enter or re-enter the Church is not the culmination or summit of your relationship with God. It is just the beginning. You will indeed not absorb all cosmic knowledge of God at the moment the bishop or priest makes the sign of the cross in oil on your forehead; you will not even have absorbed all knowledge of God by the end of your life. It isn’t possible.

It is a big deal to enter the Church, and a brave thing. I think God gives us a helpful kind of blindness in the beginning, or else people would not make that step. Because as you go along, you realize how much there is to learn, the vastness of God, the way it automatically positions you to be extraordinarily counter cultural. It is easy to feel child-like. This is where community helps, because we are not intended to live in the faith alone - another thing that isn’t possible.

So, I hope that conversation is helpful. I hope if you are someone on the edge of the Church looking in, you let the Holy Spirit guide you there. Be ready to have your life shaken up, but in the best way, one which signals a grand adventure is beginning.