Keeping the Faith on Vacation

Welcome back to Beyond the Pew. In this video, we’re going to be talking about ways we can take Jesus and make him a part of our family trips and our summer vacations, and there’s a lot of fun ways that we can do that.

Receiving Sacraments

Hello. Welcome to Beyond the Pew. As Easter gets closer and so many of our kids will be receiving Sacraments for the first time, whether it be Confirmation or Baptism or their First Communion, we’re going to talk about how to talk to your kids when they receive the Sacrament.

Triumph from Tragedy: 18 years later Hope Prevails

triumph from tragedy, shooting, columbine

As a junior in high school I was looking forward to going to prom in a week and celebrating my 17th birthday a few days after that.  But in one fateful morning all of that became inconsequential and my life was forever changed. It was a beautiful spring day and we begged the teachers to let us […]

Preparing for Gaudete Sunday

I was at a conference this past weekend and I was at a session on anxiety and depression. In the middle of the session, the presenter went off on a tangent and talked about what our youth need during this time where we feel broken and in despair, where we give in to anxiety and […]

Welcome to Advent

Hi, welcome back to Beyond the Pew and welcome to Advent! This is one of my favorite seasons in the Church year. It’s a time of hope, a time of waiting, and a time of expecting the Lord to come. So we’re celebrating the Lord coming as a baby. We’re celebrating the Lord coming in […]

Can Jesus Really Love Me?

Alright Mom and Dad, so today we’re talking about the lie or the misconception of “Jesus doesn’t want me.” Whether or not you’ve felt this before, but I’m willing to bet you have (all of us have), I guarantee your kids have felt this or are feeling this. Especially in the middle school years when their […]

Is Jesus Dead?

I don’t know about you, but for the past several weeks I’ve just been in this mood where I’m very discouraged. And I wake up in the morning sometimes, and I despair over little things or I feel like a situation is hopeless or I’m tired or I’m just fighting a losing battle. And for […]

Witness of Hope

This past Sunday, I was one of the millions of people waiting in line to see the Pope. Yes, that’s right. I was in Philadelphia, trying to make it into the Papal Mass. We were given tickets as a last minute surprise and took the trolley into town and rushed over to one of the […]

Victory In Christ

Over the course of my time in ministry, I’ve noticed something that has never sat well with me. I get to meet all sorts of people, weekly church-going people, and others who used to be involved at their Church but have drifted away. No matter where people are in their faith walk, so many people […]

When Everything Is Awful

No matter how many good days you have, how many wonderful friends are in your life, how great your relationship with God is going, how perfect your job is, there will be days when it feels as if everything is crashing in around you and you just don’t want this particular life.