Chet Collins's Blog: Catholic Husband, page 2

Thirteen

In many ways, wedding anniversaries are like adult birthdays. They are a moment to pause and reflect, but nothing like the birthdays of youth. There is no giant cake and no giant pile of presents. Instead, they are profound milestones that reflect the power of silent growth compounded over time.

Marriage is a dynamic vocation, a durable bond that flexes and adjusts to changing circumstances. Like skyscrapers with built-in tolerance to adjust for wind and storms, the covenant remains sturdy and t...

One Week

This summer was the first time Benedict went off to overnight camp by himself. The camp was a Catholic co-ed camp that came highly recommended by his uncle. We drove him over on a Sunday afternoon, got his bunk set up, and said goodbye.

As I backed out of the parking lot, he was standing, hands in his pockets, with his counselor and two other boys. A football was being thrown, other parents were getting their kids set up, and everyone was milling about. I wasn’t sure at that moment how things wo...

Last Day of Summer

As quickly as it arrived, summer is on the cusp of closing out. The idyllic days of leisure, with clear schedules and no homework, give way to the rhythm of the school year.

As my children enter higher grades, our calendar is an explosion of activity. Virtual classes, computer assignments, and extracurriculars now fill my calendar in a way that they never have before. Weekly defined tasks and objectives have focused in on immovable class times and date-specific deadlines. This is a brave new wor...

Resets

Constant renewal is the call of the Christian life, and the desire for starting fresh marries up nicely with cultural pulls. We want to live our best lives, and we would like to do it all at once, starting now. I would rather not be who I am today, so staring now, I’m a new person.

These resets come on strong, especially in the new year, but fizzle quickly. Inertia overtakes momentum and, as it turns out, we’re the same people we always were.

This desire for positive change, admirable as it is, ...

Why

It’s easy to tell ourselves that we should trust in God. We should, but we rarely act like it. Instead, we turn to humanity’s favorite question, “Why?”

Why does life have to be so hard, why am I here, why do I feel so insecure?

These questions are relatable and understandable. While they may reflect an inner disposition that is spiritually ill, the search for answers also opens up for us a doorway towards the mind of God.

Our purpose is to know, love, and be in a relationship with God. God wills...

Doubt

St. Thomas, along with his brother Apostles, spent three full years in ministry with Jesus. He traveled with them, lived with them, ate with them, and slept with them. He saw the great works of Jesus, and experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows.

After the Resurrection, he was the only Apostle not present when Jesus first came into the Upper Room. Upon his return, his brothers must have been ecstatic to share with him further confirmation that the Easter rumors were true. His response?

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Vocation

In God’s plan of salvation, we each play a role. Whether quietly ministering to our corner of the world, or gaining some degree of fame through skill or office, we’re invited to do our small part to carry forward His vision. In Catholicism, we traditionally consider this to be vocation. Every vocation is one of service and holiness; what changes is the recipients of our good actions. In marriage, spouses minister to each other and their families, calling both on to holiness. In priestly and reli...

Delay

It’s easy, when we are young, to assume that we have time. Life is a long journey whose minutes are slow and years are fast. With 30 or 40 years left in our life expectancy, putting off the difficult and important things is preferable to encountering challenges. Actuarial tables concur with our assessment, until the flood waters come.

The early Christians, right after the Resurrection, believed that the second coming of Christ was imminent. The general thinking was that it would happen in their ...

Gaze

The disciples in yesterday’s Gospel were sent out in pairs to proclaim the good news and returned joyful at what they experienced. With only the holy name of Jesus, they were able to project power over evil. As the Apostles continued the ministry of Jesus after Easter, people would lay the sick out on the path before the Apostles in hopes that their shadow might bring healing.

Of the four types of prayer, adoration is set apart. It doesn’t ask for anything, but instead returns to God the love an...

Deafness

Like characters in the Bible, there are many stories in the lives of the saints that we can identify with. Saints are not perfect people, but imperfect people who rose above themselves to live heroic virtue. St. Augustine’s culturally acceptable lifestyle before his conversion is perhaps the easiest example. So, too, is Peter’s distancing himself from Jesus on Good Friday.

The hardest part about living the Christian life to the fullest isn’t just walking away from the ease and convenience of nor...