I’ve been in prison for the last two-and-a-half years, and it’s been one of the most challenging and rewarding times of my life. No, I’ve not been incarcerated all this time. Rather, I minister to incarcerated people—I’m a prison chaplain to incarcerated youth at...
This article was co-published as part of a collaboration with Outreach: An LGBTQ Catholic Resource. A few weeks ago, Ross Douthat published an opinion piece in the New York Times titled “American Teens are Really Miserable, Why?” The article opens with the following...
The life of Elvis Presley is complicated and bittersweet. It hit soaring heights and crushing lows. Elvis, the 2022 biopic on his life, tells the legendary musician’s story from the view of his former manager, Colonel Tom Parker. The film doesn’t shy away from the...
Where were you when Pope Francis was elected on March 13, 2013? I was in Kingston, Jamaica. It was my second year in the novitiate (the first stage of Jesuit formation) and I was spending three months working at a Jesuit school there. As we were all waiting for the...
Like the woman at the well, we may not always realize when we are encountering Jesus. Brian Strassburger, SJ, reflects on how we can open our eyes and hearts to recognize Jesus in those around us. Based on the readings for Sunday, March 12, 2023. Don’t judge a book by...
Podcast Episode: In the 3rd talk of our Lenten Retreat, we continue to contemplate our identity and how much God loves us. To come to a profound awareness of this love, Ignatius desires us to put sin in its proper perspective: sin as systemic and all around...
I’m stepping onto the aisle of the chapel, standing next to one of my best friends, Fr. Eric. Only a handful of months ago he was just Eric. This aisle in the chapel is the chapel at the Novitiate of St. Alberto Hurtado in St. Paul, Minnesota. It’s the same chapel...
Do we recognize the moments when God is revealed to us? Alex Hale, SJ, encourages us to recognize the Transfigurations that take place in our own lives. Based on the readings for Sunday, March 5, 2023. Are you aware of the miracles around you? I’m Alex Hale and this...
Podcast Episode: Damian sets up the retreat by letting us know the focus of these 40-days of Lent will be on the First Week of the Spiritual Exercises. And as we begin, we discover that our entire life is a gift in which we have one goal. St. Ignatius posits this goal...
I was supposed to start my new assignment in December. My flight was scheduled, and my things (art material, some books, and my winter clothes) were sent… but my thesis was still not finished. Everything got canceled, and I felt as if I hadn’t fulfilled my first...
