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Category: Those Catholic Men

Lost Horse

When I joined a team of search and rescue volunteers at Caprock Canyons State Park, I thought the job would entail rescuing for hikers who ran out of water or bandaging tourists who cozied up too close to the bison herd (for some reason, buffaloes think they own the place). Little did I suspect that […]

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County Shepherd

Trying not to overthink it, I decide to power on the sound system. A CD of Robert Earl Keen’s greatest hits, stuck in the console, has been my only musical companion all summer in a borrowed car. I have every song memorized and begin to sing along while drumming on the steering wheel as cornfields […]

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Pilgrimage to Galilee, Part II

Pilgrimage to Galilee, Part IIby Fr. Matthias I pound the last tent stake into the hardpan and toss the rock-turned-hammer down the hill. I pull a knife and a jar of peanut butter from my bag. Digging into the golden spread, I realize that I’m the one being carved—cut and chiseled—by the beauty that surrounds me: an evening sun […]

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A Good Retreat Is No Date With God

St. Francis de Sales was ridiculed in his day because he did not preach in lofty sounding ways, sermons being sprinkled with glittering phrases in Greek and Latin, place just so in order to impress his audience. No, he spoke plainly, as a man acquainted with spiritual growth and battle, to men acquainted with the […]

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Requiescat in Pace

Requiescat in PaceWe were at the ball fields in July, the air unusually muggy as dark clouds gathered overhead in the evening sky. I saw a few dads, including my own, discussing whether they thought we should risk playing with the possibility of lightning. Ultimately, they decided that it was not a real threat and we began […]

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Perseverance On The Path

Perseverance On The PathThe Saints have left us the example of those who sought perfection. Not perfection in being (this is not possible for fallen creatures this side of Heaven) but perfection in will, which grace promises and God commands: “be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). The distinction is that we are not […]

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Humble As Dirt

Humble As DirtThe word humility comes from the word humus, which means earth, or in particular the under-earth. The dark soft spongy earth without any plant decay still in it. Our word humility can make us think of the words at Ash Wednesday, “You are dust and to dust you shall return.” It is said that humility is the first […]

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Drug Court

Drug CourtFor the local officials in attendance, the graduation was a moving civic ceremony. For the families involved, it was a celebration of newfound hope. For this volunteer drug court chaplain, it was nothing less than a liturgy where justice and mercy embraced (Psalm 85:10). Throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis has called us to practice solidarity, […]

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We Will Have To Endure Persecution

We Will Have To Endure PersecutionTo speak of virtue is to speak of action – not ideas, sentiments, or fluff. The cardinal virtues are the hinges of the good and worthwhile life, not the aspirations of those engineering an “image” for themselves.  The cardinal virtues all need each other to be complete, and we need these virtues to be men […]

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