Living the Catholic Faith

"For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother."

Matthew 12:50

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Faith is not something we should do just for an hour on Sunday.  Our faith should be part of who we are and be part of our decision making process.  Here we offer a series of reflections and papers that explore what terms like "discipleship" and "stewardship" mean.

  • The Journey to Jesus - In this presentation, Fr. Jeff explores how we use the word "journey" to describe our Christian lives and how we come closer to Jesus.
  • Praying with the Trinity - In this presentation, Fr. Jeff discusses the three persons of the Trinity and their relationship to each other and how this factors into our prayers.
  • The Holy Spirit - In Baptism we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and are sealed with the Spirit in Confirmation.  How do we recognize the Spirit in our lives?
  • "Christian Discipleship" - The word "disciple" means "student".   As Christian disciples we are students of Jesus' teaching.  What does it mean to follow the teaching of Jesus as disciples?
  • "Christian Stewardship" - A steward is entrusted to care for the property of another.  What has God put us in charge of and how do we use it wisely?
  • "A Personal Relationship With Jesus" - Some Christians say we must have a personal relationship with Jesus.  What does that even mean?
  • "Christian Discernment" - We use the word "discern" when we talk about making decisions but what does it mean?
  • "Conscience" - We are given a "conscience" and are supposed to follow it.  How do we know when to trust it?
  • The Four Last Things - Death, Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory - things yet to come for us but our understanding of them influences how we live now.  This video explores our Catholic understanding of death and what comes after.
  • "Original Sin" - What is "Original Sin"?  How did it begin with Adam and Eve but is still part of us today?
  • "God's Commandments" - God gives us commandments not to burden us but to help us know how we are called to live.  Here we explore this further.
  • "Islam And the Separation of Religion and State" - I wrote this paper for a class on Islam I took in 2002.  It discusses how the Islam religion views the relationship of church and state.​