Column Archives

Much has been written about the importance of discernment in religious and priestly vocations. People spend a lot of time praying and looking at whether God is calling them to be a priest, brother or […]

There are certain ways to tell whether you’ve been watching too much news these days. One indicator would be sitting through a story of someone predicting that we are in the final days and approaching […]

Editor’s Note: Richard Tomlinson is  a seminarian for the Diocese of Charles­ton, currently in his fourth year of priestly formation in Rome. In 2007, Bishop Robert J. Baker, now of Birmingham, Ala., decided to send […]

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break […]

In life, as disciples we belong to a community and are not alone in our desire to follow the ways of God. We are given the grace to have a heart ready to give thanks. […]

One of our greatest powers and privileges as human persons is the ability to give thanks. Each of us can turn to God, our parents, spouses, family members, friends, neighbors, and co-workers and say “thank […]

Life can certainly give us a few failures and disappointments. At times, these can leave bad memories and scars on our soul. We remember these events and fear repeating them, or letting them be repeated. […]

At times in our lives the demands of discipleship can lead us to feel alone or awkward in the midst of our family, our group of friends, or among our co-workers. It can be a […]

Some years ago a friend asserted that God was a hindrance to his freedom and creativity. He argued, as some others do, that God is a crutch invented by humanity. He believed that we created […]

Obedience. Deference. Authority. Docility. These are not very popular words in our society. Our culture has attached a negative connotation to each of them. Why? Each of these words, when properly understood, is a key […]