Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. (John 14:27 NABRE) As the Scripture narrative on John 14:27 puts it, Peace: the traditional Hebrew salutation Shalom, but Jesus’ “Shalom” is a gift of salvation. Do we not hunger for the Peace that God gives? Experiencing a peaceful state is such a comforting state it is hard to describe that peaceful sense of being. It is more than just be

Years ago my wife Patt and I became middle school catechists. How we got there is another story but as we embarked on this journey it became evident that there was much for us to learn. We started with a curriculum that gave us direction but just using a handbook was not going to be enough to be effective for those hungry young people we were engaging. We started to study Scripture and the Catechism for our own better understanding. We even started listening more to Chris

Where is our treasure? Do we invest it or is it buried, you know like in our mattress? Is our treasure working in our 401k or IRA? Is it being totally engaged in our jobs? Is it totally working for you? A few months after I graduated from high school my father received a promotion that required the family to move a certain distance away. At that time I had already registered at the local college, was dating a special person who would eventually be my wife and had a full-time

Let’s start with a celebrity test. Do you know who Frank Sinatra is? Do you know who Johnny Depp is? Do you know Brad Pitt or Britney Spears or Jonathan Roumie or Elvis Presley or Pope Leo IV or Eminem or Charlie Kirk or Bill Clinton or Jennifer Lopez…? I am guessing you know some if not all of these people on the list. What other celebrities do you know? What do you know about them? Likely what most of us know about these celebrities is what we have seen of them in entertain

Hi, how are you? Fine, how are you? End of conversation. Have you ever had that experience? In our fast-track culture today conversations can frequently be short and mechanical. Rote describes an established, monotonous series of actions or a habitual routine performed mechanically. How many things do you think we do each day out of habit? It is likely countless from the time we wake up in the morning until bedtime. A favorite motivational speaker that I have heard a num

Have you ever read about or even studied the effects of toxins?

Recently my brother and I were reminiscing about events of the past. One of my memories mentioned was when my grandfather would take me out driving to gain experience so I could take the driving test for my driver’s license. I remembered how he had told me that the less backing up I did the less I could get into trouble. Certainly, backing a vehicle up with today’s technology is a better situation than years ago considering the built-in cameras. In those days, the most we had

A few years ago, I went in for a hearing exam. My only real complaint was not being able to hear a person clearly who is talking to me when we are in a noisy room. The audiologist said that was common and hearing aids would not necessarily fix that issue. It was enough of an issue for me that I purchased some hearing aids anyway. Guess what? The audiologist was right. They were not a solution for my hearing issue. Recently my wife Patt had her hearing exam and left with these

We live in a country where free speech is a “right.” In our culture today many people think that speaking anything and everything that comes to mind is okay. It is their right! However, it is important to understand that with rights comes responsibilities. There are logical expressions communicated and then there are emotional expressions communicated. It is often the emotional expressions that get us into trouble but that is not to say that emotional expressions are wro

Recently I was at an Urgent Care facility in assistance of someone else. While sitting in the waiting room I observed a young boy and his father. It appeared the young boy was the one to be treated. Almost immediately I could see the young boy was mentally handicapped. It was quite evident that the father was a very patient parent. At times, the boy would make unhappy outbursts and occasionally was a bit difficult to control. The boy's behavior was something any parent w