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As you may know, there are some species of plants that need fires to reproduce. There are some seeds that lie dormant for many years, waiting for fire to activate them into germination. The Catholic Church in the West is similar to these plants. We have been dormant for so long that it may take God’s fire (the purifying fire of the Holy Spirit + the fire of suffering) to make us fruitful again.

When we entered the E.R., the waiting room was packed, but we didn’t have to worry about the line - they ushered right to the back, because my baby boy turned blue. He really did, he was blue. Dominic (who is now 17), was only a few months old and had RSV. He was having trouble breathing and by the time we got to the hospital, he had turned blue.

"Well that might be true for you, but not for me.” I don’t understand relativism and that means that whenever I talk with someone who is a relativist, even in small parts, it is hard for us to connect. I realized this many years ago and had to switch my tactic in order to be more effective in my evangelization.

Ash Wednesday is a good day to share your Catholic faith with others. In fact, Ash Wednesday Masses generally have more people attend that even Christmas and Easter - which shows a high level of engagement. Below are some suggestions on how to evangelize on Ash Wed.

The Holy Grail of Catholic parish renewal is still being looked for. Publishers, apostolates, organizations, etc roll out programs, books, conferences, and plans that get Catholic leaders to jump on the bandwagon, because they want the ministry magic bullet that will transform their parish easily and quickly. There is one problem - it does NOT exist.

I have seen hundreds of folks I know burnout in ministry. While it is neither cheap nor efficient to have turnover, sometimes we can’t control the fact that people move on. Is there anything we can do about it?

26.2 miles. It seemed like an impossible goal for someone who had never run more than a couple of miles. But, I determined I was going to run a marathon, even though I had little knowledge of what it would take to accomplish that goal. What I found out (months later) was that waking up at 4 AM to run for 3 hours in single digit weather was what it would take.

If you want the TLDR (too long didn’t read) version of this story - if you want to be a saint, then become a great evangelist and if you want to be a great evangelist, you have to be a saint. Holiness and mission are inseparable.

The data doesn’t lie. In what they personally believe about salvation, most Catholics are closer to Universalists than they are to Catholic doctrine – that is they believe that being a “good person” will get you to heaven. Catholics aren’t alone.

You probably don't really want to be a Catholic speaker. I am writing this to those who aspire to a career (part-time or full-time) of being a "Catholic speaker". I hope I don't come across as too negative or preachy. My intent is really to shed some life on why there is a desire there and the reality of the Catholic speaking circuit.

She once worked in full-time ministry jobs, but stopped going to Mass 2 years ago and most of her family and closest Catholic friends don’t even know she stopped. She reached out to tell me her story after reading my previous post on lonely Catholics. But, that isn’t the end of the story.

The more I listen to the experiences of Catholics, the more I get the sense that we are facing a quiet epidemic of loneliness.

I worked in campus ministry for 15 years and during that time, there was no lack of desperate parents calling to ask us to help them with a kid who had stopped going to church. I have also done a lot of speaking/training of Catholics through the years. It isn’t rare to get a line of folks who have questions. But, whenever I talk on evangelization, the most common discussion is about how to evangelize family who have left the Catholic Church

Evangelization is a skill that must be learned and practiced. Here are 22 helpful tips to help you be a better evangelist.

Catholic leaders can learn a lot from Crossfit, the workout phenomenon that has swept the globe. Crossfit defines itself as “constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity”. In other words, it is an intense workout that changes every day. But, it is much more than that....

I recently asked for blogging suggestions from folks on social media. One young man, who is a seminarian currently (and a former student at one of the campus ministries I worked at) asked me the following question: "What can I do as a priest to help people become missionary disciples?"

Scandals. Confusion. Decline. This is the noise that under girds the Catholic Church in our culture right now. We certainly have problems. But the problems are merely symptoms of a much deeper issue. Too many Catholics have accepted a false gods in place of Jesus....

Yes, it is a provocative statement - the American dream has killed Catholic discipleship. But, I not only believe the argument bears consideration, but that we will never truly win the nation to Jesus until we jettison the idea that Catholicism and American idealism are 100% compatible.

I got on the plane completely worn out. After training a large group of religious sisters in how to do hands-on evangelization for a weekend, I was tired. So, I wanted to put on my headphones and drift into my nothing box. But, as is usually the case, God had different plans for me....

I remember the first time I told my wife that I loved her. It was a terrifying moment. We had been dating for several months and I fell head over heels for her, like no girl before. She clearly had won my heart, but there was an internal battle that raged over whether I should tell her how I felt about her or not...