With the beginning of a new liturgical year, we heard in the Epistle today from St. Paul, "The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light."—Rom 13:12 Seeking what resolutions to pursue for the new year, I recently heard this talk by Fr. Ripperger. That talk opened my eyes to the depth of graces offered to people who endure temptations from enemies invisible (and probably visible.)  Also, as in other talks, Fr. Ripperger encouraged his listeners to ask Our Lady of Sorrows to reveal their primary defect. This time the answer in [...]

The above picture is a Latin-Rite (Western) Church in an Eastern Orthodox country.  More specifically, it's the Franciscan run "Church of Our Lady of Victory" in Rhodes, Greece.  I spent time praying there as well as helping with corporal works of mercy.  Above the altar within the above Church is a plaque found from centuries ago when the Holy Theotokos showed up to liberate the island from a Turkish Muslim invasion. Rhodes is an island where St. Paul visited (and he apparently loved it.) Over a millennium later, the island was built up by the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti [...]

We landed on 7 Oct 2023 in Tel Aviv, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.  As most of you know, this feast commemorates the Naval defeat of the Turks by the European armies after Pope St. Pius V got all of Europe praying the Rosary for a miraculous defeat.  That is exactly what was granted.  But just before landing in Tel Aviv five hundred years later, one boy (of our group of 60 pilgrims) saw in the distance smoke coming up from the Gaza Strip from the initial strikes at the beginning of the war. As we landed, an Israeli woman next to me helped me interpret the [...]

The above is a picture I recently took while walking and praying my Divine Office (Psalms) at a rather-empty beach in Florida.  It always brings me so much peace. Most of you do not know this, but several times in seminary I felt called to leave my studies for the Catholic priesthood and go live as a homeless, celibate, Catholic preacher in front of abortion centers in Florida.  I felt called to live as a mendicant (beggar) without marriage, but also without Holy Orders.  Now as a priest doing some of those things as a monk-missionary on my own, I have also been overwhelmed by the issues of politics that [...]

The above is a picture of my friend, Fr. Fidelis CFR, being arrested for his pro-life work.  For peaceful pro-life work, I have been arrested in Wash DC and New Jersey with Fr. Fidelis under a group called Red Rose Rescue (RRR.)  I thought I was pro-life before I met those associated with RRR.  But the way that RRR changed my thinking was this:  Whereas most pro-life organizations know in their brains that the unborn are really children, the members of RRR know in their hearts that children are really being killed. Here's what I mean:  Imagine if you found out in the nearest big city that somewhere downtown there [...]

I have conglomerated these lines from Holy Scripture which help me in times of false-accusations.  You might want to save them to a note app, too: Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.—Mt 5:11-12 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give [...]

The above pic is a statue of Our Lady that remained standing amidst the recent Hawaii fires of 2023. (It was all over social-media, so if you know the original source, I’ll happily give photo-credit.) My favorite line in St. Louis De Montfort’s description of the saints of the final days of the Catholic Church goes like this: “They will have the two-edged sword of the Word of God in their mouths and the bloodstained standard of the Cross on their shoulders. They will carry the crucifix in their right hand and the Rosary in their left, and the holy names of Jesus and Mary on their heart.”—Thunderclouds of Mary, [...]

Except for the Blessed Virgin Mary, I would say that my favorite saint is the Apostle Paul.  Why is that? Blaise Pascal once wrote, "The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing." So, of course not everything can be identified. But here's a few reasons: St. Paul was the "Chosen Channel" and the "Standard Bearer" of the entire Gospel of Love.  He chose to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified (1 Cor 2:2.) Christ Himself chose him to transmit the Gospel over the whole Mediterranean region nearly 2,000 years ago. With Christian-radio being played in my house all during the time growing up, I [...]

Not that anyone has ever challenged me on this, so I don't know why I repeat myself on this, but my donors do not pay for my pilgrimages. When I go on a professionally led-pilgrimage, the other lay pilgrims pay the way of the priest. This is quite common in the Catholic world. But, as always, I do thank you my donors for all your generosity to me for my normal room and board and ministry. We still have some openings for a pilgrimage I will help lead to the Holy Land with Jesse Romero in October 2023. You can find details here. Dr. Taylor Marshall invited me to be [...]

My brother in law, Luke, in an Alaska charter fisherman for four months a year. His boat is seen above. He takes clients to catch salmon and halibut in Southeast Alaska. His wife (my sister) goes up there with their five kids to overlap with him about three of those four months. The rest of the year, they live in Denver (as do I.)  The last time I was up there I was just a newly ordained priest. Luke and I were half-joking and half-serious how much simpler it was when I last visited around 2012. He and my sister had only one daughter. They had not yet had their [...]