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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...

My teen years were in the late 80s & early 90s. I used to wear Vans and had long bangs (both have made a comeback). I lived those years in a constant search of being relevant and cool with my peers. In some ways I achieved my goal.

Think of the last time you visited another parish for the first time. Did you know where to park? Did you find your way around easily? Did you feel welcomed? Were you a bit nervous? What was positive about the experience and what was negative?

“A budget is a theological statement” -Cardinal Tobin When this was said at the Convocation of Catholic Leaders last summer, it resulted in an explosion of applause and cheers. It is also very true. What we spend our money on tells us what we value, at the core. But, that isn’t the only statement of what we believe (and value) we can make. We also do it with time, staffing, and more.

One of the major (and fatal) flaws of many pastoral leaders in the Catholic Church is the failure to properly empower others to do pastoral ministry alongside them. There are many excuses and reasons why this happens, but rather than focus on those, I want to look at the need to empower others and the results when we do.

Whether you know it or not, there is something that affects every day of your life. It is your worldview. A worldview tells us not only how people think about the world, life, truth, goodness, meaning, etc., but it also plays the main role in our underlying assumptions - and many assumptions which are not explicitly thought about. Ultimately, a worldview...

When I was in college, I took several semesters of archery. I really loved shooting arrows at targets, but what ultimately won me over was the nature of archery; you immediately know how you are doing, based on where you hit the target. Still, there was one time that I hit a bulls eye, which scored a zero because I was aiming at the wrong target! In some ways ministry is like archery...