A graduation speech featuring the wisdom of Fyodor Dostoevsky and C.S. Lewis — Dear students, traditionally, a teacher’s speech to a graduating class is called an exhortation. It is supposed to be the last lesson you receive at this school. As I pondered what I would say to you for this last lesson, it dawned on me that we have spent a lot…

I first met Frank Salazar in June of 2021 at Cafe Zamora. We met because he was a new teacher at BASIS Goodyear and I was assigned as his teacher mentor. What started as an awkward meeting between two strangers soon turned into what felt like a reunion of old…

A Short Prayer Book and Introduction to the Daily Office — The following contains a one week prayer book (which could certainly be used for many weeks in a row). Each day is divided into five prayer times, with one psalm to be prayed for each office. …

Insights from Aldous Huxley, Bertrand Russell, and C.S. Lewis — The percentage of Generation Z that self-identifies as atheist is two times that of the general US population.¹ What accounts for this massive shift towards atheism? It is the problem of pain — this group reports that the single largest barrier to faith is the presence of so much evil…

A Lectio Divina of Matthew 6 — Matthew 6:19–34 (NLT) 19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. …

A Lectio Divina of Psalm 46 — Psalm 46 (NIV) 1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. 4 There is…

Cultivate Happiness, Wholeness, and Hope in Christ — What is the Daily Office and Why Do I Need It? Welcome Friends If you are here you are undoubtedly hungry for more — more peace, more wholeness, more hope…more Christ in your life. This is what the Liturgy of the Hours or Daily Office is all about. What is the Daily Office? In scripture we are called to “pray without ceasing,” and to continually focus our…

A Lectio Divina of Psalm 13 — Silence and Solitude: 1 Minute Begin with one minute of silence and solitude. Focus on God and breathe deeply. If you are in a situation where you can’t find total silence or solitude, just do your best. Lectio Divina (Sacred Reading) Let’s move on now to that contemplative form of Scripture reading the Church has historically called lectio divina…

Today we are going to try something a bit different. Instead of doing one longer Divine Office, we are going to do one long and two short sessions of the Liturgy of the Hours. …