Sickness in a family member is often a catalyst to seeking extra prayer. Such was the case in the summer of 2001 when a member of my family began to experience severe depression. I called Deacon Al O'Brien, director of the prison ministry for the Beaumont Diocese in Texas, and asked if he knew of a prisoner who could pray for Michael. Since I became director of the Partners in Evangelism prison ministry in 1998, I have found Deacon Al's experience and wisdom invaluable. I call him my "mentor." More »

When they deliver you up, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. (Matthew 10:19-20) More »

What could possibly have motivated the wise men to leave their homes and undertake a long, hard desert journey? More »

A real family—I had one once, in my early childhood. Then for reasons that I was too young to understand, my parents went their separate ways. More »

It always amazes me how God works extra hard to bring good out of evil and injustice. It’s even more amazing how some people who are suffering some form of injustice allow God to take hold of the unjust situation and baptize it, as it were, so that it can produce godly fruit. Nowhere is this dynamic at work more dramatically than with the witness of St. John of the Cross. More »

On this feast of the Immaculate Conception, we read the story of our first parents’ fall and God’s promise of salvation through an offspring of Eve (Genesis 3). More »

The crowd that gathered in the church in Milan that day late in a.d. 374 was confused, fearful, and angry. The Christian community in the city had been bitterly divided for decades between the followers of Arius, who taught that Christ was not divine but merely a creature, and those who defended the teaching of Rome that Jesus was both man and God, equal to the Father in all respects. More »

The spirit of Advent and Christmas can best be cultivated by practicing the ancient art of lectio divina. These special seasons are all about expectation—waiting for and anticipating the coming of Jesus Christ. More »