How To Identify & Crush Your Predominant Fault

In my last post I forced us all to consider our Big Kahuna of sin, our Grand Poobah of iniquity – our Predominant Fault. It’s important because if we don’t fight it, we’re in big spiritual trouble. We’ll have no fertile interior life, which means no real spiritual growth. So let’s turn our attention to […]

The Real Celebration of Love

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You might think I’m crazy, but I think we should look at Lent in the same way that a lot of people look at St. Valentines’ Day. Yep…you heard me. In fact, I find it quite apropos that in most years, Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the “ominous” shadow of Lent. Why? Because all the […]

The Tragic Beauty of the Cross

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There is only one way to be saved….period. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.” These words of Christ in John 14:6 are some of the most famous in all of Scripture. But what most people don’t realize is that Christ declares them […]

The Real Reason God Permits Temptation

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Isn’t it funny (and annoying) that those things you gave up for Lent seem to present themselves way more often than normal? People keep offering you that frothy beer or fancy dessert, and you have to give it the old “just say no” Nancy Reagan routine. And I don’t know about you, but it’s ridiculous […]

Taking Lent by Force

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Most of us dread Lent on some level. And that’s natural because it doesn’t appeal to our senses. Let’s be honest, we’ve all been tempted to cut the Lenten corners: “Let’s see…how about no alcohol…wait…scratch that… alcohol…I mean no beer (cuz then I can still have a bourbon in the evening); no desserts…desserts…I mean no […]

034: How the Cross Actually Saves You (and how it doesn’t)

Perhaps the most dramatic and gut-wrenching moment of the crucifixion is Christ’s cry of dereliction: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” But many people have no idea what it actually means. Like so many other converts to Catholicism, I was raised with a misunderstanding of how the Cross of Christ actually saves me. […]