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Catholic leaders can learn a lot from Crossfit, the workout phenomenon that has swept the globe. Crossfit defines itself as “constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity”. In other words, it is an intense workout that changes every day. But, it is much more than that....

I recently asked for blogging suggestions from folks on social media. One young man, who is a seminarian currently (and a former student at one of the campus ministries I worked at) asked me the following question: "What can I do as a priest to help people become missionary disciples?"

Scandals. Confusion. Decline. This is the noise that under girds the Catholic Church in our culture right now. We certainly have problems. But the problems are merely symptoms of a much deeper issue. Too many Catholics have accepted a false gods in place of Jesus....

Yes, it is a provocative statement - the American dream has killed Catholic discipleship. But, I not only believe the argument bears consideration, but that we will never truly win the nation to Jesus until we jettison the idea that Catholicism and American idealism are 100% compatible.

I got on the plane completely worn out. After training a large group of religious sisters in how to do hands-on evangelization for a weekend, I was tired. So, I wanted to put on my headphones and drift into my nothing box. But, as is usually the case, God had different plans for me....

I remember the first time I told my wife that I loved her. It was a terrifying moment. We had been dating for several months and I fell head over heels for her, like no girl before. She clearly had won my heart, but there was an internal battle that raged over whether I should tell her how I felt about her or not...

In 2013, the Barna Group did a large survey on the importance of sharing the faith of Christians. Though probably not a surprise - the demographic which had the lowest number of people who actively shared their faith was Catholics. Here is the truly sad part...

How long did it take the 12 Apostles to truly understand who Jesus was? When did they really decide to lay down their entire lives and give him everything? You probably know the answer - 3 years. So, why do we operate our parishes, ministries, and personal evangelization with the idea that it ought not take so long? I know I certainly can’t evangelize better than the Lord of the Universe!

Stories move us. They can change our minds. They can inspire us. They teach us. They can even be an instrument that God uses in our conversion. We need stories to be told. We need to share the story of how God has worked in our lives too. This is even more true today.

If you want to talk about Churchy language, then the word, “kerygma” is at the top of the list. In modern times it is only used in Christian circles and even then, not widely. This is unfortunate, because a lot of the answers to our problems lie within understanding what the kerygma is an how we ought to be using it.

The presenter had whipped the crowd into a fury. They were as fired up as almost any crowd of Catholics you could imagine. Even the flies on the wall could feel the passion and zeal start to fill the room. The crowd started to believe they were going to be the beginning of great renewal in the Catholic Church.

I don’t know about you, but the last few weeks have been pretty rough. First there was the story of Archbishop (former Cardinal) McCarrick. Then we had the report from Pennsylvania drop this week. It is so depressing. Last night it reached an apex when my wife and I cried with our two oldest kids after one of them asked me to explain what was going on.

This weekend our water heater started to leak, so the plumber came (George). He is no longer a young man and we have had several conversations through the years about the lack of young plumbers. But, on this visit, George had a new apprentice, who just started this summer, after just graduating from High School. I told George that I was happy to see he had a new apprentice, but George said the chances of him sticking around are slim...

Several of my friends and family are what you could describe as high-achievers. Still, some of these high-achievers cross over into being workaholics too. In conversation with one of them recently, I mentioned that even Jesus took a day of rest every week (he took the Sabbath rest very seriously). The response of my friend was that Jesus didn’t have kids....

One of the results of my many years of working for the Catholic Church was that I have had hundreds of conversations with those who were thinking about pursuing jobs in Catholic ministries. I always wanted to let those I talked to know the good, and the not so good, about working for the Catholic Church as a lay person, because I wanted to help them make an informed decision.

The email she sent me was pretty blunt. A woman wanted to ask some questions about baptism, so she called her local parish. The parish worker who answered the phone was blunt and not very nice - NO! You can’t have your child baptized without being registered at the parish. There was no way around it. The woman was distraught....

If there is one thing that every good teacher knows, it's that a lecture is one of the worst ways to teach. The first problem is that the students are passive. They are not engaging with the material, but are mostly downloading information, little of which will be retained. The second is that little of the information actually transforms the students into active learning. ​​​​​​​Now, let us translate this knowledge to evangelization and discipleship.

"Timing is everything" is a common phrase and there is a lot of truth to it. If I had met my wife 24 hours earlier than I did, she would have had nothing to do with me. Because we met the same night that I had my primary conversion. Before that, I was a wild college kid and she wouldn't have had anything to do with me. God knew what he was doing there. He also knows what he is doing in terms of reforming the Church in the USA. We are at a pivotal moment.

Disciples make other disciples. Disciples help other disciples mature . Programs can be avenues for these things to happen, but they still rise and fall based on people! Jesus didn't have a program, but he still had a mission, a vision, and a strategy. It is ok to use programs, as long as...

In the times of the Bible, one of the worst disasters that could befall someone was to be barren (infertile) physically. In fact, it is a major theme of Scripture, to see how someone (or a couple) who was once infertile, has had their situation changed by God and has now gained their fertility. In each reference to infertility, in Scripture...