I sent the club a wire stating: PLEASE ACCEPT MY RESIGNATION. I DON'T WANT TO BELONG TO ANY CLUB THAT WILL ACCEPT ME AS A MEMBER. – Groucho Marx

I’ve been blessed to attend several large events in St. Peter’s Square. In each case, the Pope was there, but a long way away.

I always wondered who those people are who get to sit right up on the stage on either side of the alter canopy. Seems to me someone who gets to sit that close to the Holy Father must be really holy or really important (maybe both).

But tonight, I was there. And it was because a priest friend asked a priest friend and he had a place and I got invited.

So there I was, feeling like Groucho in reverse: I really want to join the fancy seat club even though I know I’m not qualified.

I’ll have to read much of what the Holy Father said during the service when it is translated tomorrow. Despite the valiant efforts of a couple translating priests, I had a hard time following the presentations.

But I can tell you that this is a Pope who speaks with passion, expresses joy and is, indeed, Catholic. We have a powerhouse dressed in white.

Q: Dear Father John, I have recently returned to St. Theresa of Avila’s autobiography, having only gotten through a third of it last year. It is easier to read now. I have an idea of where I am spiritually according to her book and will discuss this with my Redemptorist spiritual director. But I have a question. What I am seeking is: What is written for married women that is of the value of St. Teresa’s book about spiritual growth? I can’t see how a married woman can progress to the third (and further) stages when her vocation is to her husband. It’s not that God is taking me further, at this point, but I also do not want to stall myself.

The question above was posed to Fr. John Bartunek LC on the wonderful website RCSpiritualdirection.org. Father solicited some input from his readers on this, so here is mine. No offense to St. Theresa of Avila, but I don’t think she provides the best advice to answer this author’s question. This great Doctor of the Church offers wonderful insights into the heights a soul can reach in prayer, if God so permits. But on such a question as this one, I would recommend the wisdom from Blessed John Paul II. I cannot claim to have a saint’s level of holiness by any means, but I can say I certainly have progressed in my journey after discovering his catechesis Theology of the Body, as well as his other writings. Following the lead of our great late pope, I suggest she meditate in prayer on Ephesians 5, specifically the verses 21 to 33. Read the rest of this entry »

I might be falling in love again.

It has happened many times with my wife of nearly four decades. With work, children, church, social obligations and problems of busyness and money, we’ve sometimes fallen into times when the love remains, but the passion wanes. Then something happens. I hear a song we listened two as college students. My wife shakes her head that particular way she does, or says a word of special meaning.

Flash: In my eyes she is 22 years old again, walking down the aisle in that beautiful white dress to become my wife. I remember every wonderful thing about her and my heart aches for her. She is my best friend and the love of my life. Read the rest of this entry »

I stepped off the greyhound bus and into the chilly New York City night air. I looked around with my fellow missionaries and wondered how we could possibly feed and clothe all the homeless people that seemed to be pouring out of ever crack and cranny in Penn Station. With sandwiches and socks in hand, I walked up to the first person I could see. As I came close enough to speak, I was involuntarily repulsed by the sight and smell of the woman standing in front of me. She was middle aged, dressed in pajama pants, a top hat, and a scanty underskirt. As she smiled to take the sandwich I saw that most of her front teeth were missing. With her quick “thank you” I took in a strong whiff of alcohol. Each eye was looking in a different direction; she was definitely high on more than one drug. She was a woman and almost not a woman. Read the rest of this entry »

Today, I write from an international congress in Rome: Springtime in the Church and the action of the Spirit, The Mission of ecclesial movements and new communities in formation and spreading the faith. Location: Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum.

If this were Twitter, I’d already be well beyond my character limit. In Rome, there is a certain elegance to the naming of people, places, buildings and events. You won’t attend an event here called: Meeting about sharing faith.

This congress has a beautiful, albeit complicated, “logo” that appears on all the materials. Included in the image are blended pictures of St Peter’s, a statue of Peter, a crowd of the faithful, a flying dove and a skyline comprising iconic buildings from around the world. In Rome, you couldn’t have a logo that is a simple cross with a couple simple words. This isn’t Chicago, Detroit or Kansas City. Read the rest of this entry »

I am the recipient of great charity and owe a debt of gratitude to several communications directors of various nations where Regnum Christi has a presence. They have been kind, patient and tolerant of one of my persistent character faults.

That’s right; I’m an American.  I speak only English.

For the past two days, I’ve been in meetings in Rome with communications directors, most of whom speak at least two languages. The meetings are held in Spanish, making me a potential lost cause in being a part of the conversation.

But thanks to the simultaneous translating of my multi-lingual colleagues, I’m able to follow the conversation and contribute my thoughts. At first, I felt a little humiliated. I’ve made a couple efforts to learn Spanish, but demands on my time (and perhaps an undiagnosed linguistic learning disability) have stood in the way. Thus, I have to depend on people smarter than I to keep me in the conversation.

It is tiring, more so to the person helping me than to me. But it also is a reminder of the extent that each of us depends on others, ultimately on the God who made us. No one is self-sufficient, although many of us think we are. In a way, being so dependent helps me to appreciate how much other people do for me every day of my life.

But I do want to make it clear that I’m more than capable of ordering in a Chinese restaurant – provided the menu has pictures and numbers.

As I look forward to Pentecost with a few thousand of my closest friends in St Peter’s Square, I can’t help but remember my first experience of a crowd in Rome.

Pentecost 1998: I’m leading my wife and six-year-old daughter into the masses and who do we run into but the adult leader who was escorting my 13-year-old son and his youth team on the pilgrimage. We asked how things were going and he said everything was fine, except somehow he had lost track of my son and one of his buddies. Read the rest of this entry »

It was just yesterday. My son was 13 and going to Rome as part of his Regnum Christi boy’s club. My wife decided thought it would be good for us to go, too. So the two of us, accompanied by our six-year-old daughter, decided to go to Rome for Pentecost and a great meeting of the lay movements.

In reality, yesterday was 15 years ago. The son is a grown man, living in Ireland and engaged to marry a beautiful Irish woman with red hair, freckles, blue eyes and a lovely, lilting Irish accent.

The daughter graduated from college yesterday. She majored is metals, a fairly specialized niche in the art department.

And the wife still puts up with me (most of the time). Absent her patience and love I would not be Catholic. Read the rest of this entry »

Roughly a year ago, I heard the news that our brother Legionary Fr Thomas Williams LC fathered a child a number of years ago. As a result, Fr Thomas discontinued his public ministry and took a year for prayer and penance to discern his future course in the light of God’s plan.

Fr Thomas, after much prayerful reflection and discernment, has written to the Holy Father to request dispensation from the obligations of his ministry.

Such decisions are not easy. We all balance success and failure, joy and sorrow in our lives. None of us escapes sin and the need to ask forgiveness.

I have known Fr Thomas well for the better part of a decade. I have appreciated and enjoyed his friendship, his wisdom and counsel and I deeply respect his decision about his future. After recently finishing spiritual exercises he wrote me saying “I came to the serene conviction that what God expects of me now is to devote myself to caring for my child and his mother. By responsibly and lovingly accepting the consequences of my actions, I will continue to serve God and his Church. I know I should be with my son and try to be the kind of father he needs.”

I have complete confidence that Fr Thomas will continue to be a valuable instrument in God’s plan and positively influence many, many people for the good of Christ’s Kingdom. I hope all of you will join me in praying for the success of Fr Thomas in his new life.

"Listen to me! If you do not give time to prayer nor accept the counsel of a spiritual guide, the confusion of the world can even succeed in drowning God's voice." (Blessed Pope John Paul II, March 21, 2002)

Ever since 7th grade, I have had the grace of a holy priest to guide me in my spiritual life. Life can be confusing and our passions and emotions can often cloud our reason. My spiritual guides have helped me to grow in my prayer life and to see the crosses and challenges of life through the eyes of Faith. Personally, when I offer spiritual guidance, I always begin with a prayer to the Holy Spirit, because I know that his inspiration and illumination is what is most needed.