When faced with a pastoral or parenting dilemma, we need to focus on what is possible. How to lead the person to the next virtuous choice that is within reach. Step by step a solution emerges. Always look for the grace in the moment rather than gap between ones ideal and practice.

“truth is like a precious stone, offer it in your hand, and it draws others to you, Hurl it at someone, and it causes injury” Pope Francis

  A deep sense we are loved Activity that is meaningful A future in which to hope.

I take my dog for walks on the neatly poured sidewalk. The grass plots are cut with perfect straight edges against the path. There are little white flags on some, warning of chemical treatments. Weeds have been banished and foreign grasses conquered, yielding a pure rug of verdant fescue. Beneath these pristine plots lies a

These two virtues can be summarized by the phrase: “Things are to be used, people are to be loved” Self Indulgence and inordinate attachment to things often leads to  sadness, loneliness, and boredom. Temperance is having the proper balance in the use of things , and Detachment is the ability to hold lightly the goods

Fear is perhaps the biggest obstacle to love because it holds us within ourselves. Fear is a form of clinging to a false security and and identity. Love is a self emptying. It requires a leap into the unknown, with no guarantee of safety. It is like being tied to the mast of a ship

We are all born into a battle. Our thoughts and habits are the chief battleground. The best defense is a good offense. If we choose which thoughts we will hold onto and let the others pass by we are on the offensive. If we hold to our good habits even when the going gets tough,