The Victor's Crown

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Same Lent, Different You It's a blessing that Lent happens every year. It makes me think of hearing a song you loved when you were younger. Or picking up a book you read years ago. The song can take you back. It breathes some youthful life into you, remembering bygone days. There's nostalg...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- What the Fall Broke Last week, I talked about the three big areas where we face the greatest stress: work, family, and health. On further reflection, it hit me that this isn’t random. This makes perfect sense. Because these are exactly what was affected by the Fall. Work: Yes, we were made...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Season With Salt In Leviticus, God commands that all offerings be seasoned with salt. "You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt." The whole...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Just Come Back Last weekend, my son went to confession for the first time. Anytime your kids receive the sacraments, it's a unique opportunity to re-approach them yourself. You think about your own journey—the mistakes you made, the ways you drifted, the times you wandered off. And you pra...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- The Little Things There are probably three big areas that challenge us the most, test us the most, where the greatest stress lives: Work. Family. Health. Those are the big ones. Speaking for myself—sole provider, five kids under 10, always something going on health-wise, sometimes bigger,...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Nourishment, Not Reward The Eucharist isn’t a reward. It’s nourishment for our weakness and for the road ahead. I think sometimes we treat the Eucharist like something we have to earn. “When I’m good enough, then I’ll let myself receive.” But that’s backward. We don’t receive the Eucharist...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Is This Worthy? Is this behavior worthy of a good Christian? It’s a good question to ask when you’re in a grey area. Or at least when you tell yourself it’s a grey area. Something might not be sinful. Not directly harmful. Not obviously hurtful. But that doesn’t mean it’s worthy. Instead o...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- For Your Good This week I’ve been writing about trials—how not to be surprised when they come, how to be ready for them. Today, another angle on the same truth. Imagine you’re working with a personal trainer, walking through a weight room. You’re just walking through, chatting, getting the...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Be Ready Yesterday we talked about not being surprised when trials come. Today, I want to talk about being ready for them. There’s a difference. Back in college, I played baseball. During the winter, we’d work out in the old basketball gym—a converted airport hangar. Dusty, stuffy, hard to...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Don't Be Surprised Here's some advice we could all take to heart: Don't be surprised. When you first hear it, it might not mean what you think it means. My wife was telling me about a mother whose cause for canonization is open. One of her characteristics? She was never surprised when her...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- The Right Tool "Men are only instruments which God makes use of for the salvation of souls. We have to make sure those instruments are in a good state of repair so that God can use them." —St. Pius X We are tools in God's hands. A hammer is different from a screwdriver. A shovel is differe...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- A spot of joy When we read the New Testament, emotions can get a little muted. We think of Jesus as super chill, super calm, very mellow. But then we get those peak moments—Jesus in the temple pulling out a whip and driving the vendors out. When you really think about how intense that must...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Give Him Your Will "He who gives his goods in alms, his blood and scourging, his food and fasting, gives God what he has. But he who gives God his will gives himself, gives everything he is." —St. Alphonsus Liguori We can give God a lot of things. Our money. Our time. Our sacrifices. Our d...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- In Every Situation I have a challenge for each of us this week. Myself absolutely included. Here it is: Learn to turn to God in every situation. Not just when we need help—in every situation. We're pretty good at turning to the Lord when we need help. When things are hard. When we're despe...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Strive Always Perseverance is a virtue that doesn’t get enough attention. Maybe because you can’t see it in a moment. Perseverance is possessed over time—over months, years, a lifetime of continuing to strive. St. Teresa of Ávila captures this beautifully: “Come what may, happen what will,...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Standing With Him Sometimes we treat our faith life like we’re always chasing after God. He’s way off there, distant, and we’re trudging through the muck trying to reach Him. Falling. Getting back up. Continuing. That image is true. It captures something real about the struggle. But there’...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Willing to Fight It’s around that time when many New Year’s resolutions are beginning to falter. Maybe we came out too strong. Maybe we were sprinting when we should have been thinking about a marathon. That’s okay. You can pick yourself back up and start again. The journey in this life is...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Useless Things What you give your attention to becomes your reality. I recently read this in a book about our online habits. The author’s point was simple: if you spend all day reading articles about crime, you’ll start seeing potential threats on every street corner. What you consume thro...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- To Cut Off The Latin root of the word “decide” means “to cut off.” The same root appears in words like homicide and suicide— -cide , to cut, to strike down. Every decision cuts something off. When you decide this, you cut off that. Deciding to pursue holiness means cutting away sin from ou...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- The Gaps As we grow in faith, prayer takes on a central rhythm in our lives. We develop anchors—times when we pray consistently. Morning prayer bookending the day with night prayer. Grace before meals. The Angelus at noon. These are good.  Our days are built around these anchors, but there...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- The Ordinary Life "The ordinary life of a man among his fellows is not something dull and uninteresting. It is there that the Lord wants the vast majority of His children to achieve sanctity." —St. Josemaría Escrivá Sanctity happens in the ordinary. In the everyday. In the life you're livi...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Unwilling St. Augustine gives us a disturbing scenario: at the final judgment, the devil and his demons speak these words to our Lord about us. "Most just God, declare him to be mine who was unwilling to be Yours." It should unsettle us a little. First, because at the end of time, we're go...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Where We Expect Him “How many souls are troubled by doubt because God does not show Himself in the way they expected.” —J. Leclerq The problem isn’t that God doesn’t show up. It’s that He doesn’t always show up where we expect Him. We look for God in the big moments—the dramatic answers to...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Act and Trust The spiritual life can feel like a roller coaster—steep declines where we fall into trusting ourselves, steep inclines where we're learning to trust God again. We swing between the extremes. Sometimes we trust but don't act, waiting passively for God to do everything. Other t...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Not Into the Nest "God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest." —Josiah Gilbert Holland Our journey toward God is one of collaboration. God doesn't do it for us. We don't do it entirely for ourselves. It's both. God provides the food, but the bird still has to le...