[Monday Motivation] I recall my father-in-law explaining why he could have never entered life of crime – to be sure he was a moral man – but his reason was pragmatic, he didn’t have a good enough memory.  To be a successful criminal is to juggle aliases and alibis – he reckoned it would be Read More >

[Friday follow-up] We’re reflecting on John 10:27-30, and particularly, “My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me.” Regular readers know that “silence” is a favorite theme of Interior Life.  You could devote more than one wall of your living room to books that have been written on the topic of silence Read More >

This Sunday’s Gospel brings us Jesus’ very familiar phrase, “My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me.” Fr. Benedict Groeschel had a favorite little story (one of thousands) about encountering actual shepherds while in the countryside somewhere.  As a died-in-the-wool city boy, he was keenly interested.  There were three shepherds each Read More >

[Answering Atheism Tuesday] Today we finish our consideration of John 21:1-19, and the importance of having a mission and plan of life.  This is exemplified by the disciples and the fruitfulness of patiently waiting on Jesus and then following His commands. If you search “plan of life” in YouTube (we don’t recommend spending much time Read More >

[Monday Motivation] We’ve been looking at John 21:1-19, Jesus’ appearance to the disciples at the Sea of Galilee. And particularly, we’re considering what this tells us about having a mission in life. As St. John Chrysostom points out, Jesus hadn’t yet given the disciples their commission – and so they’re left without direction and return Read More >

We’re looking at the exchange between Jesus and the disciples from John Chapter 21 (in the postscript), and how it relates to our mission in life. We’re told this exchange occurs after the disciples had already seen the risen Lord multiple times.  And yet they go back to the ordinary and familiar task of fishing Read More >

This Sunday (the third Sunday of Easter) brings us to the seaside with Jesus and a group of disciples (Jn 21:1-19). In this week’s Pearls installment, we’re going to focus on this scene: Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”  They said to him, “We also will come with you.”  So they went Read More >

[Answering Atheism Tuesday] Yesterday we noted that Divine Mercy is the heart of the Gospel.  Over a number of past emails we looked at how Christ’s passion and crucifixion – the cross especially – are all about mercy – Christ accepting our judgement. A question that can reasonably be asked is – “why the relatively Read More >

[Monday Motivation] Yesterday we celebrated Divine Mercy Sunday. Once we have an eye and an ear for it, we find that Divine Mercy is written throughout scripture. We reminded ourselves last week that the Latin for mercy is misericordia – empathy to the point that our heart suffers for another. We see this in Christ again and Read More >

[Friday follow-up] This Sunday, Divine Mercy Sunday, coincides with these words from Jesus, as he appears to the apostles in the Upper Room: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”  And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit.  Read More >