How the Letter of Saint James Guides Your Speech (and Heart)

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Editor’s Note: Post originally published on October 28, 2021.

The Sacred Scriptures contain truth and wisdom from God. These truths are eternal and ever relevant— and practical. When you live in accordance with the Word of God everything in your life is ordered. This doesn’t mean you will be free of struggles and suffering. However, you will experience an otherworldly joy and peace more often than when you don’t follow the Word of God.

Saint James the Less

One of my favorite books of the Bible is the Letter of Saint James. Despite being a short epistle (five chapters) it’s rich in wisdom and practical advice. Chapter 3 is especially relevant for my battle against sin. Saint James details out the importance of how your words can guide your spiritual life. The old adage, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me” is false. Words matter. How you phrase something helps or hurts people. The Apostle gives a few tangible examples in chapter three of his epistle showing how speech helps or hinders the spiritual life.

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Why Saint Luke is Awesome: History + Theology

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The Historian of the Heart

Two Octobers ago, I missed celebrating the Feast of Saint Luke. It wasn’t intentional; life just got busy. Between teaching, family life, and parish commitments, October 18th slipped past. But ever since then, I’ve felt an unmistakable pull to know this Gospel writer more deeply, not just as the “beloved physician,” but as the evangelist of mercy, faith, and ordered reason.

As someone with a background in history, I’ve always admired Luke’s approach to truth. His Gospel begins not with poetry or mystery, but with method: an introduction that reads like a historian’s preface. “Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative… I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus…” (Luke 1:1–3). He’s transparent about his sources and his purpose so that we may “realize the certainty” of our faith.

There’s something deeply comforting in that. Luke reminds us that Christianity isn’t a myth or an emotional movement; it’s a faith rooted in reality, built on eyewitnesses and examined testimony. Saint John Paul II beautifully captured this when he wrote that Luke “leads us to knowledge of the discreet yet penetrating light that radiates from the Word.” Luke gives us not just the facts of salvation history but the warmth of faith that makes those facts alive.

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How Saint Teresa of Avila Cut Through My Exterior with Her Interior Castle

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Editor’s Note: Post originally published on September 14, 2022.

I struggle with the sin of pride. I often hate to admit I made a mistake. Even if it is a minor one. I tend to blow the error out of proportion in my mind. This leads to me spiraling into a descent of despair. Reason goes out the window and I lash out at my loved ones.

One of the most effective saints at keeping my pride in check is Saint Teresa of Avila. I refer to her as one of the patron saints of my family. We asked for her intercession in May 2018 to protect our unborn daughter (my wife has a history of miscarriages). Since then my wife and I have sought Teresa’s help daily in our bedtime prayers.

This fall I’m am trying to get back into a regular habit of reading spiritual work. I discovered a free course on Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle featured on the Smart Catholic website. I study her work for about 20-30 minutes a day during the week.

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What St. Thomas Aquinas Teaches Us About Anger

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Editor’s note: Our guest contributor is based in Australia, so some spelling and usage reflect Australian English.

Let’s have lunch. Let’s pack up. And let’s go to bed.

I have twin toddlers, so I say some version of that all day, and a good share of it comes back declined. By about the fourth round I can feel something arriving that I did not choose.

Which is the question I want to ask, and it sounds like it has an obvious answer. When you lost your temper last week, what actually happened? Not what set you off. What happened inside you, in what order, in the half second before you spoke.

Most of us cannot say. We have a rich vocabulary for the trigger and almost none for the mechanism. And a man who cannot describe the mechanism of his own anger will keep aiming his effort at the trigger, which is the one part of the arrangement he does not control.

The Thomistic tradition has a description of that mechanism. It is unnervingly precise, it is about eight centuries old, and it names six specific ways anger gets out of a man and into his house.

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Come and Meet Jesus at the Wedding Feast

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Guest Post by: David Tonaszuck

A reflection on the Gospel of Matthew 22:1-14

There once lived a poor couple named Joseph and Anna. Their clothes were worn, their table was simple, and their hands were rough from years of work. Yet every morning they thanked the Father for another day. They spoke to Jesus as a trusted friend, asked the Holy Spirit for guidance, and shared whatever little they possessed.

One day, an invitation arrived from the king: “Come to the wedding feast of my son.”

They were filled with joy—until they looked at their clothing. Joseph’s coat was patched, and Anna’s only dress had faded. “We are not worthy to enter the king’s house,” Anna whispered.

Still, they decided to go. “Perhaps,” Joseph said, “the king wants our presence more than our appearance.”

At the palace entrance, they saw guests dressed in silk and jewels. Embarrassed, the couple began to turn away. Then the king’s son came toward them. His hands and feet bore wounds, yet his face radiated joy.

“Why are you leaving?” he asked.

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A 1325 Word Interview with Associated of Friends of Saint Carlo Acutis USA

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Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed the Association of Friends of Saint Carlo Acutis USA, via email in the summer of 2026. Some of the questions/answers may have been rearranged, edited, and paraphrased to provide the best reader experience without losing any integrity of the answers given.

For readers who may only know Saint Carlo Acutis as “the internet saint,” who was Carlo at the heart of his spirituality and daily life?

Saint Carlo Acutis was far more than the “internet saint.” At the heart of his life was a profound love for Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. He attended Holy Mass frequently, spent time in Eucharistic Adoration, prayed the Rosary daily, and lived a life of charity by serving others with humility and joy.

Although he enjoyed computers, sports, and ordinary teenage activities, Carlo never allowed technology to become the center of his life. Instead, he used it as a tool to evangelize, always pointing people to Christ. His famous words, “The Eucharist is my highway to Heaven,” perfectly summarize his spirituality. Carlo reminds us that holiness is possible in everyday life when we place Jesus at the center of everything we do.

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