Confession on the rise!

Friends, this week I joined the Morning Air Show to discuss the great news that the practice of regular confession is on the rise among Catholics, and how we can get ourselves to confession more regular. You can listen to that conversation here.

My tips? One is to know where you can go to confession, because it may not be your Sunday parish if you work outside your own neighborhood. Likewise, make yourself an appointment in your calendar - and keep it! Plus, do a good examination of conscience, even if it’s while you’re standing in line. And remember the priest doesn’t care what your sins are - and definitely won’t even remember them.

We talked about how going to confession is like taking a “spiritual bath.” Doesn’t that sound nice?

Now get yourself to confession!

It's okay to celebrate Halloween; election novena

Readers, with Halloween arriving this Thursday, take heart that it is totally okay to dress up, celebrate, eat candy, and generally carry on in the spirit of the spooky season. Listen here for my last appearance on Morning Air where we discussed just that. As it turns out, Halloween has Catholic roots. But, if you’re still worried about “opening yourself up” to evil, as they say, then dress up as a saint. It’s all a win-win!

In other news, the election is last week and I have been praying along with Pray More Novenas election novena (sorry, can’t find a direct link to the novena; they email it every day). Today is day two and here is something from the prayer that struck me:

Give us the courage to be detached from our political loyalties and be first a faithful follower of Jesus, the true King…In this election, O God, we pray for the best political leaders possible in this fallen world, but we place our ultimate trust in You.  

“Detached” is a great state to pursue with regards to politics. How do we detach ourselves? Part of it is practical: put down the phone and the headlines, and especially the tweets. Part of it is metaphysical, and that is what the second half touches on: place your ultimate trust in God.

It is possible politics has become our national religion because our actual religion (historically, Christianity) has been marginalized and minimized. I’ve written about this before - Evangelizing a Post-Christian World.

Everyone wants to - must - follow something. It is how we are (spoiler alert: because God made us that way, so we would seek Him). So politicians become Gods (idols) and everyone with a social media account is a prophet. It’s a lot of noise. And no matter what happens on the election, or the day after, you will still wake up in the same life, in the same country, with the same family, with the same chores and work which need to be done, with the same amount of money in your bank account. What I mean to say is: even if your candidate wins, they are not your savior. We mustn’t give our politics and out politicians this power. It is poisonous, and antithetical to human flourishing. Jesus did not ask us to follow politicians and vote early - he asked (really, commanded) us to follow Him. Simple.

Do vote, do educate yourself, do follow reasonable voices, do teach your children about civics. But just remember: in the end, God is in control.

Happy feast of the Guardian Angels!

It is the feast of our guardian angels! Isn’t that incredible? Imagine your magnificent guardian angel with you every day, at the moment you wake up, to the time you go to bed, and through the night. It is a good idea to speak to your guardian angel frequently. Ask for your angel’s help in any matter, big or small, major or inconsequential. I talk to my guardian angel if I am traveling, if I am nervous about something, if I have a meeting I want to go smoothly or a conversation that needs to be held…pretty much, any time.

Did you know if you are having a difficult time with someone, you can talk to their guardian angel? You can also ask your guardian angel to speak to theirs. And of course, if you are sick and cannot go to Mass, you can send your guardian angel on your behalf. For real. Let us thank God for the gift of our guardian angels!

I’ve had two recent radio appearances to share. The first was about loneliness. AEI released a survey showing that church affiliation provides a sense of belonging in our increasingly lonely and isolated world. I spoke with John and the gang about it, which you can listen to here.

Next, I joined Morning Air to talk about: spiritual leadership. I know everyone throws around the word “leadership,” especially if you’re on LinkedIn, and it’s basically meaningless at this point. What I mean is that in every family, someone has to be the spiritual leader. Someone has to be the one to say “we’re going to church” or “we’re praying the rosary together.” More importantly, this requires us to not be hypocrites in our words and actions. Because kids see it all! And they’re not dumb. So if you’re trying to teach them to love their neighbors as the gospel says, and you cuss out everyone in traffic, well, you’re modeling being a hypocrite rather than a Catholic and that’s definitely not leadership.

You can listen to that one here. We had a few callers, which was also great.

I’ll be back on October 10. What will be the topic? Who knows!

God bless!