When the Intake Form Breaks You Open — And Why That’s Not the End of the Story
It’s hard to see your own life spelled out like that. Hard to admit that you’ve been moving through the world without a safety net: no friend circle, estranged biological family, no regular community, no one checking in, no one to lean on. I co-parent, I raise my son, I try to be his example — but in the quiet moments I realize I don’t have an example of my own.
When a Child’s Feelings Run the House: Learning to Parent With Structure, Not Emotion
Co-parenting brings you face-to-face with realities you can’t ignore. Sometimes the hardest part isn’t the schedule, or the school forms, or the hand-offs — it’s the emotional swirl happening between two parents who love the same child, but respond to him in completely different ways.
Lately I’ve been watching my son bounce between us, trying to figure out the rules of his world. And without even realizing it, he has learned something powerful:
If he expresses a big emotion, he can change the plan.
Authority, Obedience, and Raising an Eight-Year-Old: A Catholic Reflection on Romans 13
When St. Paul writes in Romans 13 that “all authority comes from God,” it’s easy to misunderstand. Some read it as God endorsing every ruler, parent, or leader automatically. But the Catholic understanding is deeper, wiser, and—if you’re raising a child like I am—essential to daily life.
MEN NEED MIRRORS, NOT MODELS
The world keeps feeding men impossible models: heroes who never fall, leaders who never doubt, warriors who never break.
But Scripture doesn’t give us models. It gives us mirrors — men with tempers, flaws, lust, cowardice, pride, fear… and a God who still calls them, forms them, and refuses to leave them behind
Becoming Small Again: What St. Faustina and the Child Jesus Teach Parents, Co-Parents, and the Lonely of Heart
When I first learned how St. Faustina wrote about the Child Jesus in her Diary, something in me softened. I’m a parent, a co-parent, a man trying to walk in faith, trying to stay steady in a world that doesn’t always feel steady back. And the more I read Faustina, the more I understood that God wasn’t inviting me to become stronger, louder, or more “in control.”
He was inviting me to become smaller.
When Someone You Care About Can’t Break Free: A Catholic Reflection on Love, Cycles, and God’s Healing
My ex-wife has struggled with a relationship that has ended and restarted more times than I can count. Her friends see the red flags. Her family does. I do. She even sees them herself—she has shared the pain, the drama, the disappointment.
But then something pulls her back.
Acts, Apostolic Succession, and the Living Church: Why Tradition Matters
When we read the Book of Acts, it’s impossible to miss the clear picture of a church in action: apostles teaching, councils forming, leaders appointed, and communities organized. For Catholics, this is not just history — it is the blueprint for how Christ intended His Church to operate.