Is the kingdom of God here? There are many ways we can say "Not Yet!" But, because of Christmas, the answer is also "Now!"

The post Now But Not Yet appeared first on Shawn The Baptist.

Peter failed. We all fail. But when we meet the risen Lord, there's really only one thing he is going to ask us.

The post Do You Love Me? appeared first on Shawn The Baptist.

The resurrection is big news. But St. Paul reminds us that this big news spreads in small ways, like yeast in dough.

The post Do Something Small appeared first on Shawn The Baptist.

The chants sung during the veneration of the cross today remind us how bad things really are and why we can call this day good.

The post My People, What Have I Done to You? appeared first on Shawn The Baptist.

Watching a loved one suffer can leave you feeling helpless. The Passion of Jesus reminds us of the power in standing by a suffering friend.

The post It Is You Who Have Stood by Me appeared first on Shawn The Baptist.

St. Paul says that, more than anything, he desires to know Christ, to grasp Jesus. But he also rejoices that Jesus first grasped him.

The post Grasped by Christ appeared first on Shawn The Baptist.

When we get headed in a certain direction, we tend to keep going. It takes an outside force to reverse course. In the spiritual life we call this grace.

The post Spiritual Inertia appeared first on Shawn The Baptist.

Mary's heart was completely open and docile to the will of God. We should pray that our hearts and those of the whole world would be like hers.

The post A Consecrated Heart appeared first on Shawn The Baptist.

As I was climbing the Appalachian Trail through the Smoky Mountains, one chant kept me going. Not Aquinas or Palestrina... Dory.

The post Just Keep Swimming appeared first on Shawn The Baptist.

Like Jesus, I'm headed into the wilderness for Lent. I'm going to test my backpacking skills with a 70 mile trek on the Appalachian Trail next week. There are lessons to be learned in the wilderness.

The post Lessons from the Wilderness appeared first on Shawn The Baptist.