The Victor's Crown

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- A Place to Return To Not far from us there is a monastery that has Mass which is open to the public. Our family went to Sunday Mass there this past weekend. And for me, it's just one of the places that I know I can find peace and quiet. Of course, there's only so much peace and quiet when...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Do People Change? I think, depending on who you ask, you would get very different answers to this question: Do people change? Even for myself, on the one hand, my first reaction is no. I think, for the most part, people don't change. But it also depends on what you're talking about. There'...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- The Face of the Father My wife and I are fortunate to have welcomed our fifth child back in October, so she's almost six months now, which is always just a fun age. In Mass, she loves to not only be held and look into your face, but she has to touch your face with both hands. It's not lost...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Little Actions Add Up I started tracking what I eat every day with a fancy nutrition app. And while this reflection is not about my personal health and fitness journey, I am continually amazed at the parallels between having a healthy body and a healthy soul—and the lessons that we can tak...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Eat the Frog I’ve been trying to teach my kids the lesson of “eat the frog.” It’s an odd expression that I learned a while ago and had to look up. I didn’t realize it came from a book, but the idea is this: If every day you had to eat a frog, you could either waffle and think about it and...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- When Something Has to Give There are certain things in our lives that need balance. Like playing golf and having a family. Or, enjoying a beer and staying fit. With the right balance, both can exist in your life.  But then there are other things—things that aren't "both/and." They're "eith...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Unhinged An expression that seems to have caught on in recent years is the idea of being “unhinged.” If you are described as unhinged, it is not a compliment. It's the equivalent of being off your rocker, off base, out of control. Funny enough, I was reading a book—written at least a few d...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Breaking the Equation I can't recall exactly where I came across this idea. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Saint Josemaría Escrivá because he just has a way of distilling the faith into little nuggets that are perfect. It goes something like this: 2 + 2 = 4 But 2 + 2 + God = ? Now, ther...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- I recently came across this idea: it's worse to commit an injustice than to suffer one. I don't know about you, but speaking for myself, suffering an injustice—whether that’s outright hate, or just uncharitable remarks or a misunderstanding—has come up a few times. It’s important to rememb...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- A Cramped Horizon "The proud person's horizon is terribly limited: it stops in himself. He can see no further than himself, his qualities, his virtues, his talent. His is a godless horizon. Even other people have no place on this cramped horizon. There is no room for them." — Salvador Cana...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Necessary But Not Sufficient In living a full human life, as God’s creation—where we're not content to just skate by, to live in indifference without any sort of intention—I feel like there are some levels. The first might be what you'd call human virtue. Really, just being a decent human...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Happy Easter! Lent was about discipline and denial. Easter is about celebration and joy. Then the question is: what do we do with those disciplines that we built and embraced? Do we keep them? Or do we let them go? We don’t continue fasting during Easter in the same way we did during Lent....

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Who Was There? Yesterday, we looked at the exchange between Pilate and Jesus and Pilate's misunderstanding—or lack of understanding. But I keep coming back to this: How do we even know that this took place? Jesus is sent into the praetorium. The Jews don't follow Him because they'd be uncl...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Do You Understand? Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have ha...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Don't Be Judas Of course, there are many heartbreaking aspects of Holy Week. One that is painful to watch is Judas. Starting with complaining about wasting the expensive oil, to betraying our Lord, trying to undo it, to committing suicide. It's like watching a train wreck and not being abl...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Let your soul be stirred Holy Week is a powerful week for a variety of reasons. But one that stands out to me is that the stories we hear from the Gospels are so vivid we can imagine ourselves there. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. Cleansing of the temple. The Last Supper. Our Lord’s passion,...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Healing the Wound "It is not enough to remove the arrow from the body. We also have to heal the wound caused by the arrow. It is the same with the soul. After we have received forgiveness for our sins, we have to heal the wound that remains through penance." — Saint John Chrysostom Yesterd...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- The Disparity It's around that time in Lent when many parishes will be having penance services or nights where multiple priests come in to hear confessions. I encourage you to take advantage of it. Because as I've been reflecting on the sacrament, this image came to mind: The incredible di...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Shadowboxing Do you not know that the runners in the stadium all run in the race, but only one wins the prize? Run so as to win. Every athlete exercises discipline in every way. They do it to win a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- The Forty Over the weekend, we celebrated a feast day that's not super well-known in the Catholic world, but it's an important one—personally and for this publication. The Feast of the Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste. This is where the name "The Victor's Crown" comes from. Here's the story....

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- The Forty Over the weekend, we celebrated a feast day that's not super well-known in the Catholic world, but it's an important one—personally and for this publication. The Feast of the Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste. This is where the name "The Victor's Crown" comes from. Here's the story....

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- The Particulars of the Cross “We need to suffer patiently, not only in the burden of being ill, but of being ill with the particular illness that God wants for us, among the people that He wants us to be with, and with the discomforts that He permits us to experience.” — Saint Francis de S...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- The Good Guys Always Win When our family watches movies or reads stories, sometimes the kids will get a little anxious. It's exciting. You don't know what's going to happen. There's peril. There's danger. Is the hero going to make it? When that anxiety is starting to creep in and it's not...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- The Weight of the Stone I was doing research recently for a project and came across Saint John Paul II's homily from the Easter Vigil in 1979. He draws attention to the stone rolled in front of Christ's tomb. This is what was on the women’s minds as they came to the tomb but it also symbol...

 Get the written version in your email inbox every morning by subscribing for free at TheVictorsCrown.com --- Unhurried We live in a world that prizes speed. Efficiency. Optimization. Getting the most done in the least amount of time. But that pace is exhausting. It’s relentless. And I don’t think it’s how we were meant to live. There are some things that move at a natural pace. A natural rhythm....