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Spontaneous Prayer

I’ve said some foolish things in my life.  One time I met a woman who said,…


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Parenting

A good young priest, Fr. Lucio Choi, once shared with me how he was discouraged,…


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Healing is Simpler Than Imagined

I know a man who’s got a lot of problems: He struggles with his closest…


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How do you spell faith? R-I-S-K

Many of you have said that you remember the story I told last year about…


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How We Treat the Poor Matters

I have a happy announcement to make, one that reminds us to do some biblical…


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Should There Be Separation of Church and State?

On December 1, 1955, a 42-year old black woman named Rosa Parks refused to give…


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The Value of One Person

Two years ago, I learned something funny about boys and girls.  At the end of the…


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Fruitful Discipleship

One of the last times I went to Confession, I wanted to make a really…


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Made for Service

When I was in Taiwan living at the Holy See nunciature (Vatican embassy), Msgr. Russell…


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Making a Decision

In Rome I once met a newly married couple who were visiting from Vancouver.  They…


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Laziness or Rest?

Who in your family does the most work?  Husband or wife?  You or your siblings?  Who does…


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Being Rich Towards God

We’re now halfway through the Sabbath Summer, the season of resting in God and celebrating Him,…


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Praying Like Jesus

In my experience, here are the four most common stumbling blocks to prayer: 1) We…


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Why We Pray

You have five seconds to answer the following question, one that people sometimes ask us,…


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Healing While Resting

Let me explain more deeply why, as a parish family, we’ve just started a season…


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We Become What We Celebrate

For the next two months, we’re going to do something that we’ve never done at…


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Commitment Gives Freedom

I once found a hilarious video on YouTube, and then sent it to a guy…


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Eucharistic Culture

A few months ago, there were two tragic pieces of news:  1) Someone was selling…


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The Law of the Gift

Three questions:  1) Is there anyone in our family from whom we’re now distant because…


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Stories Strengthen Souls

For those of you with children, how would you survive if you lost your children…


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5 Types of Questions That Help Us Pay Attention to God

How many real friends do you have?  Do you know?  “Here is a simple litmus test of…


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Want to Help People You Love to Grow? Here Are 4 Ways

In our lives all of us have people whom we want to change, right?  Parents, you…


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Sacrificial Love

A friend once was talking to me and started crying because he admitted that he…


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Dealing with Shame

Fr. Mike Schmitz tells a story he heard about a village in Africa.  In the midst…


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A Joy That No One Can Steal

Happy Easter, brothers and sisters!  And a special Happy Easter to all of our guests! God…


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Jesus Gave Everything

In the 9/11 attacks at the World Trade Centre, Robert Small worked on the seventy-second…


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6 Questions to Have Devout Conversations

At our St. Anthony of Padua Leadership Summit on April 13, we talked about having…


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Judging is Wrong, But Sometimes it’s Right

Two stories:  First, aboard the papal plane in 2013, Pope Francis said, in reference to…


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Is Being “Good” Sufficient to Go to Heaven?

“Dear Father Justin:  I was in my Bible study group today when the discussion became…


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Being at Home with God

In 2010, after being in Rome for nine months, I was sent to Taiwan for…


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