A Reflection on Fulton Sheen and How Indifference Halts Love

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Editor’s Note: Article originally published on January 5th, 2021.

Hate is not truly the opposite of love. It’s actually indifference.

At least with hate you are invested in the subject, person, or thing you despise. There exists a relationship. Granted the relationship is bad. But a relationship still.

Indifference involves complete detachment from a person, subject, or thing.

Indifferent people don’t care.

Fulton Sheen quote

Such individuals only view the world for how much pleasure they can gain from it.

Indifference leads to boredom. Boredom leads to further apathy.

A vicious circle of falling further from the Truth—that we were meant to love.

Love God, others, and ourselves.

What is the remedy for indifference?

Humility. Think less of yourself.

Start small. Try to do one thing today that inconveniences you, but helps another.

Take down the wall of indifference in your life brick by brick. 🧱

And rebuilt your life on the True Cornerstone— Jesus!

Fulton Sheen quote
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5 Things I’ve Learned About Evangelizing Young People

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Guest Post By: Caleb Burbach, Founder of the Creedo App

​For the past few years, I’ve worked as a Catholic missionary on a college campus. Most of what I know about evangelization has come from conversations with students in Bible studies, over coffee, after Mass, or sometimes just from walking up to someone on campus and seeing where the conversation goes.

At the same time, I’ve spent the last year building Creedo, a Catholic learning app. That has given me another perspective on the same question. I get to see what people actually want to learn about the faith, where they get stuck, and what gets them interested enough to keep going. I certainly haven’t figured out how to evangelize an entire generation, but I have learned a few things from trying.

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An 1113 Word Interview with Dr. Robert Shaffern about Saint Peter

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Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed Dr. Robert Shaffern, via phone on August 21st, 2026. Some of the questions/answers have been rearranged, edited, and paraphrased to provide the best reader experience without losing any integrity of the answers given.

What makes your account of Peter’s life different from those already written?

One of  the main things is that I portrayed Peter in his context and in his circumstance. He had a family, business partners, he was a man who had a lot of ordinary things to look after. After the calling of Jesus, Peter received more responsibilities and he handled those gracefully. I think Catholic dads would relate to him.

We have a few scenes where it shows the ordinariness of Peter (1st century Jewish fisherman in Galilee). Peter is a story of nature and grace. By nature he was a good man; by grace he became a saint. 

One of the things of the denial story that has struck me is that Peter nearly pulled it off. The other disciples fled when Jesus was arrested, but Peter and John followed from a distance. When he was confronted by the courtyard worker (in the “11th hour”) he denied Jesus. 

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From Tax Collector to Apostle: Embracing God’s Unexpected Call to Redemption

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God calls you where you are.

For the Apostle Matthew, he was a publican (a tax collector).

What emotions come up when you think of an IRS agent?

What about tax season?

“Unfortunately, you owe X dollars this year?”

Now, imagine if God publicly called a person  to be in his inner circle of twelve??

A man whose job it was to take your hard-earned money and collect it for a corrupt government.

It might stir up resentment, confusion, or dismay to mention a few of a thousand emotions that would likely be going through your mind.

But God’s ways are often mysterious and it may take time before we realize the plan He has for others and ourselves.

I can’t even begin to fully understand what some of Jesus’ early followers thought when he died and later named Matthew to be an apostle.

An unworthy tax collector. Money-hungry, an agent of the Roman Empire. That’s who Jesus called to follow him 2000 years ago.

Now, the name Matthew translates as “Gift from God”. His conversion is certainly a blessing along with his account of Jesus’ life in his Gospel.

No matter where you’re at in life, God will meet you.

You just have to be open to His call. 🙏

P.S. How has God worked in your life in an  unexpected and merciful way?

P.P.S. Here’s a Holy Haiku I created inspired by the witness of the evangelist-apostle.

Enjoy!

Related Links

3 Similarities I Share with my Namesake— Saint Matthew

Saint Matthew (Apostle and Evangelist)

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Jesus, Our Faithful Friend

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Guest Post by: David Tonaszuck

Reflection on the Sunday 25th Week in Ordinary Time Readings

When I was a young boy, my grandfather told me that Jesus was his best and faithful friend. I did not understand. How could someone we cannot see become our closest friend? Still, his words remained with me.

As I grew older and turned to Jesus in prayer, I began to understand. I discovered that Jesus was also my faithful friend. Whenever I called upon Him, He reminded me that I was not alone. His presence quieted my mind and brought peace to my heart. The more I received His love, the more I wanted to share it.  To me, the presence of Jesus is a grace from God—a gift I hadn’t earned, but one that met me exactly where I was.

Years later, my grandfather was nearing the end of his life. I visited him in hospice and, sensing this might be our last time together, called my brother to come and be with us. We sat beside his bed, sharing memories, telling stories, and laughing. Although our grandfather could no longer speak as he once had, we knew he was listening. In our hearts, we could almost hear him laughing with us. 

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3 Similarities I Share with my Namesake— Saint Matthew

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Editor’s note: Article originally published on September 23, 2018.

According to Rick Riordan, author of the acclaimed young adult series Percy Jackson, “Names had power!” Among the first questions people ask parents upon the birthday of a child is “which name did you choose? Names also possess a meaning.

Now you may or may not be aware of the meaning or purpose of the name your parents choose for you. If you are not aware, it would be an interesting conversation to discover why they choose a particular name. If there was no particular reason, it would still be interesting to look up the history of your namesake or the literal meaning of it.

The general reason for my name selection is due to my parents being Catholic. It’s customary for Catholics to name their children after one of the saints.

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