I recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of my conversion to Catholicism. When I think back to the time of my conversion, I remember that it was a season of much optimism in the Church. Everyone seemed to feel that we had turned the corner from the unmitigated disaster that was the 1970’s and 80’s and…
A woman asked a friend to take her to the doctor’s office. She had a stressful medical procedure planned, and she needed her friend’s support. Her friend willingly agreed, and accompanied her throughout the process. The woman was happy to have this support during this stressful time. Her medical procedure? An abortion. Ecclesiastical Buzzwords The…
Today is the Feast of St. Matthew. The following is excerpted from the book “Who is Jesus Christ? Unlocking the Mystery in the Gospel of Matthew” by 1P5 contributor Eric Sammons. Stories of personal conversion comprise one of the most powerful genres of religious literature. St. Augustine’s Confessions, a classic example of this type of…
Holy Saturday is perhaps the most mysterious day in the liturgical calendar. On this day, God is silent; He is in the tomb. The Church is silent as well; no liturgies are celebrated for the day. From the end of the Good Friday liturgy to the beginning of the Easter Vigil, the Church contemplates the…
Over the past few years, we’ve all seen articles advising people what to do in an active shooter situation. The advice usually goes, “run, hide, fight.” But many articles point out that the biggest challenge for responding to a crisis isn’t necessarily knowing what to do, but overcoming “normalcy bias.” What is normalcy bias? It…
“So you think I’m a sinner?” I had just finished giving a parish talk to a group of about 40 people on the topic of mercy. In my talk I noted that everyone needs mercy, because we’re all sinners. I didn’t particularly dwell on the topic, but I made clear that our sinful nature, and…
Internet veterans are familiar with “Godwin’s Law.” Formally stated, the adage proposes that “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches.” No matter the argument, if it goes on long enough, someone will evoke the modern epitome of evil – Nazism – to condemn his opponents. If a…
Last month I wrote an article imagining what would happen if Catholic Church leaders were in charge of Coca-Cola when the company introduced New Coke. I was being tongue-in-cheek, of course, but my goal was to show that failed ideas in the Church are sometimes harder to kill than a horde of zombies. A friend…
In April 1985 the Coca-Cola Company introduced a new formula for their flagship product, Coke. Called “New Coke,” it was a public relations disaster and within months the company reverted back to their beloved formula. But what if history were different? What if Coca-Cola handled the release of New Coke like many of today’s Catholic…
The movie Braveheart dramatizes the heroic struggle, led by the commoner William Wallace, for Scottish independence. In one scene, the Scottish nobles gather after some initial victories by William Wallace over the English. The nobles begin bickering over how best to negotiate with the English King, Edward Longshanks, for they fear losing their lands and…
Twenty-some years ago, I had a typical freshman year in college: studying, getting acclimated to dorm life, and training to go door-to-door to get people to “make a personal decision for Christ.” Wait, what? Didn’t you do that last one your freshman year? I guess that was unique to my experience as an Evangelical Protestant…
