The faithful should embrace this barb for what it really means. I had a Facebook dialog a few weeks ago with a couple Catholic friends who struggle with some of the Church’s teachings. The subject of the exchange was Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget proposal. One of them suggested he should be denied communion because he […]
An Open Letter to my Parish: Why I am Discerning the Diaconate
This letter appears in the June 19 & 26, 2011 bulletin of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in West Des Moines, IA. My name is Joel Schmidt, and Fr. Hoefler asked me to write this column to introduce myself to you. Why? Because I am a parishioner here at St. Francis of Assisi and, […]
Cure and Conversion
October 10, 2010: 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time The trust required to undergo the treatment for a physical disease is a good analogy for the trust in God required to be cured of the spiritual disease of sin. Cure and conversion go hand-in-hand. The connection between the two was the subject of our readings this […]