Personal Witness at the Institute
The Power of a Personal Testimony
For almost 25 years, starting at age 16, I worked with an amazing retreat team that focused on personal testimonies to relay the Gospel. An attractive teen boy proclaimed the challenges and benefits of trusting in God’s plan for romantic…
Benedict XVI on the Historicity of the Magi and Star: From guest contributor Shane Kapler
It is obviously popular to question the historicity of the Gospels’ portrait of Jesus. Scholars who practice the historical-critical method of biblical study devoid of faith – and thus rejecting the…
Personal Tribute to Pope Benedict XVI
I became informed of the death of Pope Benedict XVI early yesterday from our chaplain, Fr. David Skillman. Although expected due to the report of his declining health, my heart stirred with both sadness and joy, knowing that a beloved spiritual father…
Becoming a Work of Art
In an interview with Vittorio Messori, Pope Benedict XVI, then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, stated that “the only real effective apologia for Christianity comes down to two arguments, namely, the saints the Church has produced and the art which has grown in her...
Being Attracted by the Beauty of Jesus Christ
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (later, Pope Benedict XVI) delivered an important address to the group Communion and Liberation in 2002 entitled “The Feeling of Things, the Contemplation of Beauty.” He placed before us the beauty of…
The Person of Jesus Christ
The most foundational aspect of the lives and teaching of St. John Paul the Great and Benedict XVI is the focus on the Person of Jesus Christ and His relation to each human heart. This may seem elementary at first; but when one considers points of emphasis...
Why Catholic Humanism?
Pope St. John Paul the Great and Pope Benedict XVI have a common thread in their writings and their partnership, both in the pre-papal years and during their pontificates: a particular emphasis on ‘Catholic Humanism’ – or perhaps put differently, theological...