It’s obvious that one of the greatest threats to our Catholic ideal of marriage and family is the absurd notion that the government or the courts can redefine marriage. God defined it permanently thousands of years ago.

Isn’t it beautiful that we have a Mother in heaven who loves us, intercedes for us, treats each one of us as a cherished child, and always leads us to her Son?

Alleluia, the Lord is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia! With the Lord Jesus Christ’s resurrection, the world is changed. Sin and death are conquered and the gift of eternal life is offered to us.

Lent is an Anglo-Saxon root word that means simply "spring." And since the season of spring is about the budding forth of new life, so too is our season of lent. Traditionally and liturgically it's a season of repentance and conversion.

For the members of Legatus and other self-identified reformers, St. Ignatius of Loyola offered some words of wisdom: “He who goes about to reform the world must begin with himself or he loses his labor.”

A fellow California pastor made national news a few years ago when he spoke out strongly to parishioners from the pulpit about voting for politicians who support abortion.

Pro-life or pro-choice? This is one of our society’s most divisive issues. That dichotomy, however, masks the true issue — whether we have the right to end the life of an unborn child.

I recently heard a story about a businessman who had lost his sense of interior joy. He was struggling to find meaning in his life. Work had taken over, and he was constantly jet-setting from city to city on business, taking precious time from his family and parish life.

One of the most descriptive definitions of man in Catholic tradition is that he is “capax Dei” or “capable of God.” Saint Augustine writes, “The mind is the image of God, in that it is capable of Him and can be partaker of Him” (De Trinitate, XIV, 8:11).

Pope Leo XIII made this observation in 1889: “We see faith, the root of all the Christian virtues, lessening in many souls; we see charity growing cold, the young generation daily growing in depravity of morals and views, the Church of Jesus Christ attacked on every side.”

May is an especially significant month. It’s a month that begs us to recall so many aspects of our nation, our culture and our faith that we hold dear.

I am happy to start off this new Faith Matters column for Legatus magazine. I’ll focus on the gift of healing, not the natural gift or the gift that comes from years of practice, but the spiritual gift from God.