Imago Trinitatis

"You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You." Today is the feast day of St. Augustine, a bishop and doctor of the Church.  His book Confessions  details his journey toward conversion, and the above quotation has been described as one of the greatest lines outside of the Scriptures.  The famous statement summarizes our restlessness that we face every day until we come to the Lord, and it can be a powerful reminder for us to turn to Christ in difficult times.  In honor of this, here are five songs coming from different styles of music to help you rest in the Lord today. 1. "Restless" by Audrey Assad This is probably the most well-known song referencing St. Augustine, and it's one of my favorites to pray during praise & worship.  2. "Prayer of Augustine" by Ed Conlin A beautiful acoustic song, played here by Daniel Purkapile, that combines a several quotations by St. Augustine. 3. &quo

This is the first Mass homily I preached, on May 27, 2018, at my home parish, St. Anthony in Columbus, NE.  It was Trinity Sunday, and as the title of this blog may indicate, the Trinity is a central theme for my own spiritual life.  I post this now in the midst of the tremendous scandals in our Church.  During our recent day of recollection, I was praying about what might be the overall cause for all of the brokenness and corruption, and what the Lord led me to conclude is that all of this can happen when we as a Church don't fall in love with Him, when we don't enter into His communion of love, which frees us from sin, brings about redemption, and leads to freedom in the Holy Spirit.   So this is my attempt to articulate what falling into this love means; I pray that it is a reminder for all of us to trust in the Lord's love, which promises to continually redeem our Church and world and manifest God's glory.  Mass readings:  http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/0527

I've been able to read through The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen over the past couple of weeks, bringing the book to my holy hours.  I've heard a lot about the book in these past seven years, so being able to finally read it was a beautiful opportunity. Nouwen focuses on the famous painting by Rembrandt, meditating on its different features and how it relates to his own life.  The progression of the book is beautiful, beginning with the younger son (noticing how often we can "run away" from our spiritual home in God) and continuing with the elder son (because we can even be lost while at home, not recognizing our true identity and blessings).  However, Nouwen observes that in the Christian life, we don't need to just settle with being like the sons; rather, we are called to grow in the compassion of the father, to become spiritually mature in welcoming others back home.  I found this very striking for myself, having become a deacon and preparin

Mass Readings:  http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/081918.cfm Today, Jesus tells us something shocking.  “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.”  It’s not “Unless you do good things and make a decent living,” or “Unless you achieve success and become famous” or even “Unless you follow the commandments perfectly and make acceptable contributions to your church” – but “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood.”  This is the climax of John chapter 6, the Bread of Life Discourse which we have been reading, and we realize that Jesus is speaking these words to us today just as he did for those first listening. I know that it’s easy for me to become used to this gift of the Eucharist and not appreciate it.  In fact, I feel like at many Masses I attend, I may recognize conceptually that this is the Body and Blood of Christ, but only once in a while, I become re-shocked at the incredible reality that is present here.  With toda