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During much of the 20th Century, in both Russia and China, Christians were viciously persecuted under Communism. But in the modern era, we see Russian Christianity stagnating (at best and declining in many ways), even though the government now officially advocates for Russian Orthodoxy. Yet, in China, the growth has been exponential. Why? What can we learn?

15 years ago a book called Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers by sociologists Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton. It is a summary of findings from a large survey of teens in America and what they believe. Their key finding is...

NOTE - There will be a lot of bold (and frank) statements in this post. Discussion and feedback is welcomed and appreciated, but please be polite, even if you disagree. When the Catholic Church, in the USA, faced the biggest problem in her history (the clergy abuse scandal), the reaction and change was...

There is no arguing with the data, and the facts are sobering and sad - most self-identified Catholics in the USA live like those who have no faith. They say they are Catholics and live like they are pagans.

There were two differences between us. First of all, he was better dressed than I was. The second was that he was black and I was white. As two friends, we entered the convenience store at the same time....

There is a somewhat obscure Bible passage that has been bothering me lately. Whenever that happens, I try to go back to it again and again, until I can discern what God wants to say to me through it. After talking to my spiritual director and praying about it more, I have some glimpses into what God is saying. Here is the passage...

We were both right, but neither of us was giving the full answer. This is like the answers that you might receive if you asked a Catholic leader about the relationship between evangelization, catechesis, and apologetics. You are probably going to get a lot of right answers, but incomplete ones, which may not hit every angle of the issue.

Our enemy is the devil, who tempts us and desires our destruction. He hates God and all those who follow Jesus. There is nothing he desires more than to have you and everyone else in Hell with him. If we are to win at spiritual warfare we have to both know...

There is a new reality that is hitting many Catholic leaders - it is that this crisis may extend far into the future. Some have said we could have waves of quarantine happening well into 2021, if not into 2022, depending on when we get a vaccine and are able to administer it widely. This is something that parish and diocesan leaders need to be planning for now, not months from now.

When the Catholic Church, in the USA, faced the biggest problem in her history (the clergy abuse scandal), the reaction and change was dramatic. In fact, due to changes made after the scandal, the Church in the USA has now become one of the most effective organizations in the country, in terms of protecting children and vulnerable adults. Still, one of the main reasons it got so bad was a failure of our leaders to do the right thing in the first place. We are seeing some of the same issues in the face of the Coronavirus.

The Catholic Church has its own set of urban legends. When asking a few friends some of their ideas, we ended up compiling a list that has several dozen urban legends and myths. Thus, this will only be part I of our series on Catholic urban legends. Here are the two.

My friend is a Southern Baptist pastor and his statement about the Catholic Church floored me and it wasn't about what you are probably thinking it was. He told me a story about when he was in seminary in the 80s. One of his seminary professors was teaching a class on missiology, which is the study of Christian mission. They did an exhaustive historical study on the spread of the Gospel. Toward the end of the class, one student asked...

I graduated from college and got married not long after. When my wife and I moved to a different city, it necessitated joining a new parish. We struggled to make friends and form community. Few people welcomed us in. Nobody reached out to us. Other young couples ignored us (and each other). So, after a year of waiting for others to lead, we decided to take the initiative ourselves.

The hits just keep coming. More bishops who moved priests around, knowing they were abusing kids. A priest is given a leave of absence because of his affair. The mismanagement of Church funds. I sometimes ask myself when will it stop...and then I remember...

Very few people like buying cars. It is due to several factors, not the least of which is having a high-pressure salesperson hover over you. It turns many people off. The same can be said about zealous Christians who always seem to be trying to "close the deal" when they evangelize. But, there is a better way.

"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.

Many of the Old Testament prophets could be called reluctant in fulfilling their calling. I understand the feeling. I have the charism of prophecy myself and certainly don’t always like using the gift. To explain a bit better, I need to back up and fill in some blanks, before I launch into this post, which I am reluctant to make public.

The problem is - too many Catholic parishes and dioceses are aiming for the wrong thing and miss the target. Then when questions arise about why the results they expected aren’t happening, they are puzzled.

If I told you that you could transform your local parish culture in 5 easy steps, would you want to know what those steps were? Even if those steps were hard, would you be willing to work to achieve change? Would you be willing to pay a steep price to get access to these steps? If you respond “yes”, then you are easy prey to “Silver Bullet Syndrome”.

When someone describes themselves as being "raised Catholic", what assumptions do you make about them? Do you assume they go to Mass, pray, follow Church teachings, etc? That phrase could mean that the person is living like the next Mother Teresa. It could also mean...