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Hope: A Misunderstood Virtue
We all face difficult moments of darkness and anxiety when things can become difficult. Some may become disillusioned with life and lose hope. During these challenging times, hope can also be...
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Your True North
Many today are getting lost amongst the busy consumer culture, bogged down with appearing successful and fitting in with those around them. This culture tells us that the newest and fanciest cars...
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The Despair of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has a host of artistic problems, but its most profound failures are of moral understanding. Whereas the original novels by J.K. Rowling embraced the Christian sanctity...
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Hope and Why the Little Things Matter in the Big Picture
“If you want to change the world, make your bed.” No, these ‘words of wisdom’ are not my mom’s. This is lesson #1 on Retired Navy Seal and Commander of the US Special Forces Admiral William H....
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Wanting Purgatory Now – A Journey Towards Holiness
There are a number of things that distinguish Catholics from Protestant Christians. One of these things is a belief in purgatory. Protestants think that simply accepting Jesus Christ as their savior...
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Looking to the Future: A Balanced Vision
What will the future be like? Our inability to answer this question with certainty has never stopped us from wondering and guessing, both about our personal futures and the future of the world. During...
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God Has A Plan: Trust His Holistic Point of View
I once had a priest tell me, after I spent a while explaining to him all the concerns I had running through my head as a college senior, that God does not compartmentalize. Every day, every decision...
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The Dwelling of Faith, Hope, and Love
Once upon a time there lived three theological virtues named Faith, Hope and Love. Their house was modest, and just the right size for them to dwell and exercise their respective entities while living...
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What They Didn’t Tell Me About the Church
I entered the Catholic Church in 2010, but my wife and I turned slowly away from the popular ideological goals and dreams of this world a few years before that. She has leapt ahead of me now in this...
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Exposing the Enemy’s Plan
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you...
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Reigniting the Fire, One Boy at a Time
Feeling alone. We all have felt it. The sense that no one cares or needs you. Though one might be surrounded by dozens of people, the feeling still may creep up on you. I felt this way in the middle...
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Fear and Faith – Focus on the Lord
Fear and faith are not two sides of the same coin as that would make them binary, either or, all, or nothing. Rather, they would be more easily seen as always being present, but in different...
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Fifteen Years of Yearning for Hope
November 11, 2017 marks the fifteenth (15th) anniversary of the shooting death of my son, Aaron Dougherty. More essentially, this date also marks the 15th anniversary of my yearning for hope for Aaron...
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Monica’s Miseries and Fortitude’s Strength
These days we hear a lot about “snowflakes.” These are young adults who must be protected from the least slight, whether real or imagined. Fortitude is the virtue that opposes this weakness. In one...
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Two Sons, One Father
There are two things the father does in the Gospel story of the Prodigal Son which can give all of us sinners hope and comfort. (Saints need read no further; but please forward this article to any...
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Finding the Love of a Lifetime
Looking back on my life I can truly say, God has been very patient with me and also very gracious toward me. But it took me quite some time to be able to see and understand that. I was fortunate,...
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A Devotional: Dealing with Difficult People
“There are difficult moments in life, but with hope the soul goes forward and looks ahead to what awaits us.” – Pope Francis When we are happy and feel accepted and loved, life often feels...
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Is There Hope in God’s Providence During Desolation?
December 13th—the Feast Day of St. Lucy, I stood aside a grave of another unborn child. It is unnatural for a father to bury his child. Standing in a cemetery after the funeral Mass for your miscarried...
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A Hopelessly Inbound Ballistic Missile
BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. It was Saturday morning, January 13, 2018, at 8:07 A.M. in Hawaii Standard Time (HST) when I received that...
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Dreaming Can Leave You Feeling Unfulfilled in Life
In my younger days, I was always a dreamer. I was, and to a certain extent still am someone who enjoys dreaming about all kinds of things. On one level there is nothing wrong with having big dreams....
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