My last name was fashioned in Calabria... A crossroads of Greeks and Italians, Arabs and Ottomans, Egyptians and Normans, Jews, Muslims, and a few others. But what's most important, To me at least, are the Romans and Byzantines. My middle name was formed in a family... Over many centuries and Passed from generation to generation In Italy and now America. Worn by tribulation, Buffeted by triumph, and And most importantly, Inspired by saints... Specifically, the one who founded

Somewhere deep inside, Beneath my titles, My work, My relationships, My words, and If I'm being honest, My own noise ... There is a flame burning. I did not kindle it. It was given as a gift. It was fostered by saints, (and, oddly, some sinners too). I tended to it by Sacrament and Silence (not nearly enough ... yet!) And it has never once been extinguished ... Ever! This is the great, joyful secret of my life (it could be yours too, by the way). God is not far away. The ligh

Insidious recusancy is The soul's refusal To kneel without surrendering. In an earlier time, the recusant At least confessed his division openly. Bearing the cost of his conscience before God. But this generation? Its quieter defiance keeps the refusal and Forsakes the honesty. It comes to worship, Lifts its voice in the psalm, Bows at the appointed hour. In other words, It withholds the heart, The one true offering that is asked. Outwardly faithful, Inwardly withdrawn, It pr

God is the source and summit of everything. Despite that fact that we often choose to live our lives on a dark and tumultuous sea, He is always with us. He strengthens us, too. You see, God gave us a firm foundation of faith. And He calls us to build a tabernacle for Him within ourselves so that we may know Him more intimately every day of our lives. Put simply, we are never alone. Listen to Christ, follow the Holy Spirit, partake of the sacraments, and live the mystical life

There are times when our faith grows thin. Not gone, but thin. The prayers that once came easily now feel like words spoken into an empty room. The certainty we used to lean on has gone quiet. So ... we do what God's people have always done: we reach out in the dark of night and cry out, "Lord, show me the path. Show me the way of salvation." If that is where you are today, take heart. That cry is not a sign that your faith has failed. It is a sign that your faith is alive an

Find it within. Find it without. Discover God's will. Follow it with hope and joy. Be a light to others, even though there is so much in the world that we can grumpy, angry, and sad about. Be anointed and healed so that you may be of help to everyone around you. Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the 4th Ecumenical Council If you have a question or prayer request, please reach out here. If you can donate, please click here.

We often ask, "Why didn't they just leave?" It's a natural question, But it's the wrong one. Abuse rarely announces itself As a single, escapable event. It's a slow erosion involving a cycle of Tension, violence, apology, and false hope Repeated over and over Until the mind adapts to survive it. What looks like passivity from the outside is Exhausted vigilance on the inside. When abuse continues unchecked, and People think leaving is more dangerous than staying The real shift

Christ calls us to freedom: freedom from the work of demons within us, from the sins that hold us captive, from our own lack of faith. He frees us so that we may know Him as Lord, God, and Savior ... and so that we may know what His will is for us. These days we stand between two feasts, Pentecost and the Transfiguration. Both speak of God's presence: in us, around us, among us. Both tell us the same thing: we are not alone. God is within and without. And through the various

The relationship within the Trinity, as well as the relationship between the Trinity and us is so deeply mystical, so deeply personal, and so deeply loving, that it is almost impossible to describe. That is why we must experience it too. During His earthly life, Christ interceded for the sick, the suffering, the unbelieving, even the dead. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit do that for us, in our times too. So let us encourage each other to be personally vigilant when i

When the mind, Heart and soul grow quiet In ways that frighten us. When our thoughts of God grow dim and Saints and angels seem to slip away, It is tempting to believe it is an end. But the fading away of our spiritual selves Is often the soul retreating under a great sorrow, Gathering itself somewhere deeper than memory. This spiritual pseudodementia reminds us that Grief, loneliness, and unspoken pain Can wear the face of forgetting or unbelieving. But healing is still poss