Regnum Christi

    I am always edified by the deferential treatment of so many good men towards their wives here in NY and during my time in DC, in so many details.

1. Holding the door or elevator, insisting that they go first, taking off and putting on their coats…
2. Offering the seat with the best view in the restaurant, and holding their chair back before they sit down, standing up when their wife excuses herself from the table.
3. Patiently and lovinglylistening to their wife’s perspective in a conversation without cutting them off.
4. Offering to cook dinner, and standing up during the meal to pick up the plates and bring out the dessert.
5. Making a real effort to arrive home on time so as to have dinner as a family.
6. Publicly expressing gratitude to their wife for a great meal and a clean house, and for all the time and attention that she spends helping the kids.
7. Privately praising their wife with their co-workers (and priests).
8. For those who have stay at home moms, perhaps to say “There isn’t anything more valuable and more important that you do, than to raise our kids”
9. Always having his wife’s back with both kids and friend alike.

Traditional culture has encountered a few shocks in recent times.

First, we’ve had a huge debate over who can use which toilets.  When I grew up it was simple; girls used the girl’s toilet and boys used the boy’s toilet.  Today, regardless of the biology, the individual uses the toilet they most identify with, which could be different from what physical evidence might suggest.

Second, in the past few days the Boy Scouts have changed their membership requirements so someone joining doesn’t have to be a boy, but identify as a boy.  In other words, a girl who thinks of herself as a boy.  This should make for some interesting camping trips.  Frankly, I wasn’t much of a camper, which means I wasn’t terribly successful as a Boy Scout.  But in those ancient times I’m pretty sure we only had boys who were really boys in our tents. Continue reading →

Ever been driving through an unfamiliar city will or stuck in traffic and just scanned through the radio stations? Somehow, even if there is an identifiable Christian lyrics like “Jesus,” most of us can identify when we’ve gotten to the Christian music station as opposed to the pop or light rock stations. You hear those songs that just lift you up.

As K-Love, the #1 will Christian music station put in their mission statement: “To create compelling media that inspires and encourages you to have a meaningful relationship with Christ.” But the Christian life isn’t all inspiration and giggles. We struggle just like non-Christians do. But how many of the most popular Christian songs talk about real struggles not just vague ones? Continue reading →

     “In the life of the body a man is sometimes sick, and unless he takes medicine, he will die. Even so in the spiritual life a man is sick on account of sin. For that reason he needs medicine so that he may be restored to health; and this grace is bestowed in the Sacrament of Penance.”  — St. Thomas Aquinas 

Personally, my internal “check engine” light goes off every week.  This tells me to go into the shop and have my soul inspected by an expert mechanic (the Holy Spirit), acknowledge what has prevented my internal engine from running according to God’s plan (pride, impatience, etc…) and humbly ask the mechanic to put me back up to speed through absolution.  Don’t ignore these check engine or other warning lights for too long, or your venial sins will soon become mortal, (as I recently learned by not changing my brakes in time).   Confession is so helpful…take advantage of this amazing gift!!

Christ tells us we are salt and light. As I was driving up to Detroit today there was a lot of salt on the road. This salt thawed the ice that was on the roads. We also are called to thaw the frozen hearts of humanity so that His grace can produce fruit in our lives. Salt also preserves meat, and we care called to preserve God’s presence and keep it fresh. Salt also enhances flavor, as we also are invited to enhance the lack of flavor the world has without God.

We are also light. Light enables us to see what is there. Through our life we make evident the presence of God in the world. Our faith expressed in our way of life is a witness to the presence of God in the world.

In a world immersed in the darkness of hatred, needs us to be witnesses to His love. And in a world rotting  by materialism, needs salt to protect God’s life in us.

“Jesus Christ is the answer to the question that is every human life.”
– St. John Paul II

Here’s Dad with three of his sons. It was taken 20 years ago when I was about to enter the novitiate in Cheshire. Matthew, was halfway through his Legionary formation, and Andrew (my Irish twin) was doing a missionary “gap” year with the RC Mission Corps (see www.rcmissioncorps.org).

I can’t believe how fast that 20 years has gone! And it reminds me of the importance of being open to the inspirations the Holy Spirit sends us each day!

“Know yourself, accept yourself, better yourself.”  (St. Augustine)

During my 10 years of caddying, I had my eyes set on becoming “Caddy of the Year” at Forest Lake Country Club.  One of my older brothers, Jim, had reached this goal and for the first nine years, I never quite “passed muster.”   This award was based on  your total number of loops (rounds) and double carries, and member recommendations based on your capacity to read putts, clubbing, hustle in finding balls and replacing divots, capacity to carry on conversations, etc…

It was a good thing for me to attend nine award ceremonies and not win.  Too many parents are concerned about their kids “self-esteem” and “confidence levels”…but learning how to lose and to come back stronger is a huge life lesson.   I realized that more work was needed and the details mattered….riding my bike early around the course to gather the fresh pin placements, to go the extra round when your buddies would head off to the pool, studying the member’s game so as to know the right club to recommend, getting to know the greens inside and out, etc… The 10th awards ceremony was so much sweeter as a result.

Really smart scientists at a couple big research universities are mixing people and pigs.

I have no doubt that their intentions are laudable.  They want to save lives.  They want to make the world a better place.

Read all about it in the National Geographic, which takes both people and pigs very seriously.

The science involved is likely beyond the reach of a liberal arts major like me.  But the concept seems fairly simple.  You remove a pig embryo from a sow, put in in a petri dish, inject it with some human cells, put it back in the sow and let it grow into a sort of hybrid pig (called a chimera) that has organs that can be harvested and transplanted into people. Continue reading →

St Paul today speaks of considering the call of God to remember that it is by no merit that we have received a call from God. A call to be his sons and daughters, to be with him forever in heaven.  The call is important not because of the call itself, but rather because the person that calls us. We are called by God. This is why it is important. Who is He? He is who he describes himself in the gospel. He is the truly blessed of the beatitudes. He is poor. He mourns for us. He is meek and humble of heart. He is hungering and thirsting for righteousness, that we make it to heaven with Him. He is pure of heart, set only on His Father. He is peace itself. He is persecuted. This is who we are called by. Let us look at Him and marvel at his greatness, as He looks on our needy nature and calls us to be with Him forever in heaven.

“Abortion destroys the image of God.  It is the most terrible plague in our society, the greatest killer of love and peace.  Those little children still unborn have been created for bigger things: to love and to be loved.”  — St. Mother Teresa

Let’s pray not only for an end to an abortion, but also for all women who have had abortions.  Their darkness, pain and emotional suffering often runs very deep…”Lord, please heal their broken hearts with the healing power of your merciful love!”