

The Glory of Persecution
There is no calling so high as to be persecuted for Jesus’ sake. May 8 of this year, Pastor Artur Pawlowski was intercepted on the highway. Heavily armed SWAT police surrounded his car. He was cuffed and dragged away, awaiting a 4-year-sentence in Canada. His crime: he opened his church and lead the faithful in worship. The news went viral. Within weeks, feces and nails were thrown at his house and arsonists torched his garage. Earlier this month, Pastor Artur lead a prayer r


Prayer and Social Delusion
“My house shall be a house of prayer.” There is only one good life: a life of prayer. In The Little Prince, a 1943 novella, the adventures unfold of a boy traveling through space. He moves from one asteroid to the next, each time meeting an eccentric character. On one asteroid, he runs into a businessman. “Good morning,” the boy says, “Your cigarette has gone out.” The businessman mutters, “Three and two make five. Five and seven make twelve. Twelve and three make fifteen…I h


A Mother in Times of Need
“And the temple of God was opened in heaven: and the ark of His testament was seen in His temple, and there were lightnings, and voices, and an earthquake, and great hail. And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars”(Apocalypse 11:19-12:1). The tomb was empty. The light poured in from the opened door, but it did not shine on a body. The rays fell on the bed where she had lain. Her bod


Beauty Will Save Your Soul
The love of beauty is the mark of a Christian soul. From the tiniest blade of grass to the stars in the sky, all beauty is sacramental. It exists to inspire our soul towards God. If we want to grow as Christians, we need to take seriously this work: to spend life contemplating beauty. Jesus took Peter, James, and John up the mountain. High up on that jagged mountain, Christ transfigured before them. “His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly


Why We Are Tired
She fell to sleep praying the psalms. She prayed the psalms when she woke in the night. She memorized the psalter, so that she could recite its words through the day, cleaning, gardening, and folding laundry. She was not a nun or hermit. She was an ordinary woman, a mother of eight children. The famous elder, Fr. Roman Braga, often told stories about his mother and her love for the psalms. She exemplified the life God desires, not for the saints, but for us ordinary people. A