If you’ve ever prayed Lectio Divina, you know how it feels when a verse stands out to you. This has happened to me multiple times with scripture before, but never in fictional reading. Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son was on my mind, after hearing it two days in a row with the Bible studies I lead and attend.  In this scene, Adam and his father Cyrus are walking, when they come upon a place where Adam would hide when he was punished by his father or felt bad. They stare at the hole near the stump and his father says he knew about the hiding place all along.  “Adam…

“If we really love God, if we truly long to work for his kingdom, then we should find the quickest and easiest way to become saints, and thereby return to him. Now the quickest and easiest way to do this…is through the Marian Consecration.” – Michael E. Gaitley on St. Maximilian Kolbe’s desire to be an instrument for Mary Grey links wrapped around people’s ankles and wrists, or medals clinked from their necklaces. What did these chains mean? Why were they so popular? Walking through the airport back to our gate, a FOCUS missionary explained it to me. The Marian Consecration.  Catholicism’s reverence to Mary had been a mystery to…

I had the pleasure of interviewing the author Caitlin Horrocks about her novel, The Vexations. Like all of her previous work, this novel was beautifully crafted with care. She left no stone unturned in terms of research. Horrocks ensured the characters were real in the ways they loved. Every act of love looked different from each perspective, as everyone in the relationship worked for the good of the other as best they could. I applaud her hard work and perseverance throughout this project. The story left me in tears, because there is so much about people that we do not know and so much beauty in others that is sometimes…

We sat in the living room on our last day of training for Work Crew before our month of service at a Young Life Camp. One of the leaders had said going to camp was like being in Narnia, where we were swept up in the adventure and overwhelming feeling of love. But then we have to go home. We never want to leave Narnia, but we have to in order to share what we’ve learned with others.  Several weeks ago, I read Making Missionary Disciples by Curtis Martin. As the founder of FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students), Martin describes the ways missionaries practice the three habits of Divine…

Reading this book was a series of gasps in response to feeling awestruck, tears from an understanding of His love, and rereading sentences to fully grasp what George Weigel was writing. This book review will not do it justice or come close to how I felt reading Letters to a Young Catholic.  I’m a beginner when it comes to spiritual reading, but if authors like Weigel continue to uncover the beauty and richness of the Catholic teachings and depth of God’s love for us through books, I am all in.  *Before you continue: I would suggest reading the book before reading the rest of this post, as the purpose of…