What We Released This Weekend
This past weekend, Domus became what it was always meant to be... for now. There's still so much more potential.
In Matthew 6, Jesus speaks of three practices as though they are obvious: Prayer, fasting, almsgiving. The three-fold spiritual life. Assumed. Obvious. The way Christians live.
Domus has served prayer beautifully for almost a year now. Daily Scripture reflection, five minutes, shaped for the state of life you're in. But prayer was never meant to stand alone.
This weekend, we released:
- Fast - Daily invitations on the days the Church has always kept as penitential. Fridays. Ember Days. Vigils. Personal streaks visible only to you.
- Give - Daily invitations to sacrificial giving tied to the saints and liturgical calendar. Every gift joined to what Christ offers on the altar.
- Households - Family members can see when each other has prayed and share intentions together.
- Groups - Voluntary Catholic associations who choose to walk together in prayer. Each chooses a patron saint.
- Patron Saints - Every prayer path now has a companion. Louis and Zélie Martin for families. Joseph the Worker for men. Elizabeth of the Visitation for women.
This is the seed that's been growing since before I knew what it was. The domestic church. Formation in the home. The idea that every household is a school of faith.
I have been building this full-time since leaving Adobe in May. It is the Catholic work I believe I was made for.
Please try it: There's a 7-day free trial at WeAreDomus.com/start. Download the & Altar app. And if it resonates, I'd be honored if you shared it with a Catholic family who might need it. And now that we're out there - your subscription supports our family.
Read the full post: What We Released This Weekend
Letter to Matthew
Last week's post about Matthew at Basic Training touched a lot of people. The comments on Facebook have been overwhelming.
Update: We finally heard from him! We had a phone call, and letters have started arriving. He's doing well. Thank you for praying.
If you missed it: Letter to Matthew
On the Road This Week
Monday I drove to Tulsa to hang out with my friends Adam Minihan and David Niles and record an episode of The Catholic Man Show (just over 10 years old on Catholic radio and podcasts). We talked about building a business and making the leap from corporate life, about Domus and the & Altar app, and about being a dad to four sons. It was a great time - and I'm grateful for Adam and his family's hospitality: dinner with his parents, a place to stay instead of a hotel, and they sent me home with flowers for Suzanne and eggs for the family from their farm.
Tuesday I drove home. Today I'm in Springfield at my office at Corpus Christi Priory, working on Foundation consulting and laying groundwork for The Table - an Ad Alta offering for Catholic entrepreneurs and small business owners in the region.
The sabbatical from active parish ministry continues. Lots of freedom to truly ponder what God wants my diaconate to look like. What is His will? Where is He calling me? How does my writing, my experience with and love of good liturgy, play into that? I'm looking forward to a check-in next week with my Spiritual Director on my reflections so far, and then with our Director of the Diaconate the following week.
A Granite City Man Sat Down With Fulton Sheen
I don't think I ever featured this in Wednesday @ Lunch - just on my personal Facebook. It deserves more attention.
In October 1972, Francis Rees - a Navy veteran, father of thirteen, SLU philosophy graduate, and lifelong student of theology - drove to Warrenton, Missouri to interview a priest.
The priest was Fulton J. Sheen.
Francis Rees was a parishioner at St. Elizabeth in Granite City - my parish. His daughter Marylou is a friend. She shared her father's article with me.
In nine weeks, Sheen will be beatified in St. Louis.
Read the article and my reflections: A Granite City Man Sat Down With Fulton Sheen
Ad Alta
Yesterday's post - "The Question Underneath" - is getting good traction on LinkedIn.
Most of us are stuck on "What should I do?" when the real question is "Who am I becoming?" Identity precedes activity. The question underneath the question.
Read it: The Question Underneath
Two Lamps
Short fiction braiding the lives of two saints across centuries. Every Friday at 6 AM Central.
Last Friday: Issue 11 - The Oak at Kildare
This Friday: Issue 12 - Saint Mary Magdalene and Saint Charbel Makhluf
Lux Perpetua
A serial novel in two tracks - mystery, memory, and the weight of what we inherit. New chapters every Monday (The Living Thread) and Thursday (The Lost Crown).
The Living Thread - Chapter 19 is live. The Lost Crown - Chapter 16 drops tomorrow.
Missio Dei
My Tuesday contribution: "Here Are My Mother and My Brothers" - on the family Jesus creates, the one not bound by blood but by doing the will of the Father.
What I'm Reading
It's Time for a Renaissance of Excellence in Catholic Liturgy - National Catholic Register - Archbishop Cordileone on regaining our sense of the sacred. "The problem underlying them all is the loss of the sense of the sacred - and most especially in how Catholics worship."
The Heart of the Father - The Catholic Thing Supreme - Knight Patrick Kelly on how the Eucharist teaches that authentic fatherhood begins with receiving and sharing sacrificial love.
'The Church Needs Her Sons' - Catholic World Report - Catholic podcast hosts on fatherhood, faith, and why men embracing their vocation matters for the whole Church.
What I'm Praying This Week
For Matthew and all of our sons.
For the Domus release - that it reaches the families who need it.
For clarity - about diaconate, liturgy, and the shape of the next season.
Coming Up
Three weeks from today: Joseph and I head to Walt Disney World for a father-son trip. I'm already looking forward to it.
Domus Formation
WeAreDomus.com/start - 7-day free trial. Prayer, fasting, almsgiving - all in one place.
Final Word
"When you pray... When you fast... When you give alms..."
— Matthew 6
Not if. When.
Michael
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