“They all called him the electric eel”: St. Philip Neri

I’ve loved St. Philip Neri for a long time. So when I noticed that his 500th birthday is approaching on July 22, I couldn’t resist the chance to prepare an article about him. Our Sunday Visitor has graciously published it. The article is now on their website, and it will appear in the July 12 print edition, too. The article opens:

They called him “the electric eel,” because just being around him often was enough to jolt your lazy conscience and make you want to live a better life, without ever feeling alienated or condemned. This year, the 500th anniversary of St. Philip Neri’s birth offers Christians a good opportunity to look again at his life and to be jolted anew by his inspiring witness.

Keep reading here.