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Interacting with atheists can be draining. Not every conversation will go well, especially when you start out. But if you follow these five principles, you can drastically improve your mindset and your conversations. Here’s the first principle: pray every day. Develop a daily prayer routine. Decide on a specific segment of time as your personal prayer baseline. It could be ten or fifteen minutes. Currently, I aim for twenty minutes, but I don’t always hit my mark. But I want to grow in my prayer …

The next conversation I want to consider is that between Jesus and Peter on the beach after the Resurrection. It is the encounter of every sinner with Christ after his repentance.When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He then said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I l …

CHALLENGE: Matthew and Luke contradict each other. Matthew says Judas hung himself (Matt. 27:5), but Luke says that “falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out” (Acts 1:18).DEFENSE: The accounts preserve different aspects of the event but do not contradict each other.Both agree Judas died shortly after the Crucifixion. Matthew says Judas hanged himself after returning the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests, while Luke has Peter speaking of the event duri …

Before entering into an explanation of these parables, perhaps a word ought to be said about what a parable is and why it needs explanation in the first place. A parable is a verbal expression, usually a story, whether spoken or written, that uses figures and images to communicate profound truths. Precisely because the truths that are communicated are profound, attempts to express them in plain language to ordinary people can be difficult. In some way, a parable proportions these profound truths …

The parables Jesus told are filled with powerful secrets that reveal the mysteries of God’s kingdom.In this excerpt, Fr. Walshe takes a look at the Gospel reading from last weekend, the fourth Sunday in Lent...This passage about the man born blind is, like the passage about the Samaritan woman at the well, found only in the Gospel of St. John. It is also read in the Church especially during Lent, and it is particularly instructive for those preparing for baptism.As Jesus passed by he saw a man b …