Photo courtesy BUD/S ST-3 Delta Platoon Mates It was nearing midnight as I sat in the frigid waters of the Pacific. I was on a training operation with my platoon; we were tasked with placing an electronic listening device at the top of a radio tower. An hour and a half prior, my scout element of our SEAL platoon had been inserted by Special Warfare Combat Crew Operators via a stealth maritime assault craft. Kitted up in the latest thermal reduction cammi’s along with my armor, night vision, fins and individual weapons, I began the 800-yard swim through the kelp forests off of Point Loma, CA, t ..read more

A New Year, a New…Bible Study Fall is upon us, which means it is once again time for new classes, schedules, activities, and of course, Bible studies. While some studies may be regrouping, with a foundation already set, other studies may be brand new, with empty seats to fill. Some of those seats will be filled by eager souls, ready to dive deeper into their faith as an adult. Others will need a little encouragement. Either way getting the people there is only half the battle. Once everyone shows up, the real question begins to settle in for the leader—now what? How do I go about leading this ..read more

Standing at the Foot of the Cross, Descent from Cross, and Burial of Jesus in the Tomb Let’s stay close to Our Mother in the sorrows we have encountered so far: The Prophecy of Simeon, The Flight into Egypt, The Loss of Jesus in the Temple, and Meeting Jesus Carrying the Cross. As we hold these moments in our hearts with Mary, we dive into the last three sorrows that pierced Our Lady’s heart. And we start here at Calvary… Standing at the Foot of the Cross Here, all of Our Lady’s sorrows come to a climax. The ultimate sacrifice — standing at the foot of the Cross beneath her Son bleeding and dy ..read more

Flight into Egypt, Loss of Jesus in the Temple, and Meeting Jesus Carrying the Cross As we ponder Simeon’s prophecy with Our Lady, let’s continue our journey into drawing close to the Heart of Our Lady of Sorrows as we meditate on the second, third, and fourth sword that pierced Mary’s heart. “When they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.’” Matthew 2:13 As Joseph received the dream, warning him to flee wi ..read more

As you drive by many churches, you will probably see a statue of Our Lady – portrayed as the beautiful, peaceful, and prayerful Mother that she is. Of course, it’s so beautiful to see our Mother portrayed like this! However, rarely do these depictions show the deep suffering and intense emotions that characterized the life of Our Lady. Ask yourself, have you ever encountered the sorrowful heart of Mary? How her heart fully embraced the cross with all its bitterness, and the sufferings that she endured with Christ throughout her earthly life? The reality of Mary is that she is fully human and e ..read more

How the Ten Commandments Can Help Us Grow in Friendship with God and Neighbor In his bestseller The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey identifies the third habit of successful people as “First Things First.”  If this habit needs to be articulated, it is likely because we typically and habitually do exactly the opposite! We put first things last, last things first, and more often fail to put anything first and simply live in reaction mode. We react to whatever catches our attention, to whomever reaches out to us, to our latest text, email, or notification. So, to put First ..read more

“The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be an affliction, and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace. For though in the sight of men they were punished, their hope is full of immortality. Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself; like gold in a furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted him.” Wisdom 3:1-6 It was five y ..read more

A Broken Heart I often hear young people in leadership expressing how they need the correct answers. They desire to be perfect. They want to show they have what it takes. This anxious spirit leads them to be tentative in teaching, to not utilize their gifts, and to not rely on God’s grace. Today, many people struggle with a fear of failure and the false pursuit of perfectionism. The great King David can help us in these moments: in these moments, instead of giving into our fears, we can learn from David how to lean into our experience of failure and repent with a broken heart. The Fall of Davi ..read more

The Dominican Art of Conversation It’s 2am, I’m with my friends, I’m cracking open another cheap beer, and we’re arguing about the goodness of God… or pondering the limits of patriotism… or digging into the foundations of ethics… or debating the merits of nuclear power… or laughing at each other’s stupid stories. This is how I remember my undergraduate years. It was a time of conversations. A time for conversation.   We were busy, certainly, but we could nevertheless spend hours each day in relaxed, aimless conversation. It wasn’t all late-night and beer-fueled conversations either. T ..read more

https://focusequip.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/HLM-50-Final.mp3   FOCUS National Chaplain Fr. Gabriel Gillen joins Jessica to talk about suffering and the tremendous power it has when “offered up.” Fr. Gabriel and Jess discuss: The most common questions people ask when they are suffering, such as, “Is my suffering my fault?” “Is God punishing me for my sin?” “If God is good, why isn’t He putting an end to my suffering?” The most important question to ask when you are suffering: “What should I do with my suffering?” Fr. Gabriel tells the story of a young boy who was healed of a snake ..read more