St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, wrote a great little book called “Spiritual Exercises.” This writing of his is a handbook for retreats. Thousands of saints have come out of the Exercises over five hundred years. The impact
We all know the story of the Good Thief very well. This man was crucified alongside Jesus and asked Jesus to remember him when he came into his kingdom, unlike his companion. In the Catholic Church, we call him St.
In the opening scene of “Les Misérables,” Jean Valjean is introduced as a former convict who has just been released from prison. He’s struggling to find food and shelter when he comes across the home of a kind-hearted bishop. Valjean
St. Augustine’s friend Alypius was drawn to the public spectacles featuring gladiators in Milan, Italy. Despite being a religious person with a great sense of justice, St. Augustine was deeply grieved that his friend seemed likely to cast away his
Today, we hear in the Gospel, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.” We find a big contrast with last week’s Gospel when Jesus named
As you all know, I was born in Argentina, the land of Maradona and Messi. Soccer is the national sport, and everyone knows and talks about it. The streets are deserted when the national team plays any match of the
Last July, I visited my family in Argentina. I had a great time visiting with family, friends, and the Miles Christi Priests and Brothers. I also ate lots of “asado,” “mollejas,” and “provoleta” (look them up!). One of the things
In today’s gospel, we hear those beautiful words, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Father and the Son, is a gift to us. We first “received” this gift in Baptism and its fullness in Confirmation. The
In 2018 I had the fantastic opportunity of going on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land with a group of priests and lay people from Miles Christi. It was an experience that changed forever my way of reading Sacred Scripture.
A few days before Pentecost in 1544, the well-known miracle of St. Philip Neri’s heart took place. One of his biographers describes it as so: “While he was with the greatest earnestness asking of the Holy Ghost, His gifts, there
