Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well, but something rooted in the conviction that there is good worth working for.

I just don't understand living in a place with hurricanes and alligators and road sharks when you could live in a place with pumpkins and hay rides and crisp Octobers and hot buttered rum.

Pope Francis: Good discernment requires self-knowledge wherepeteris.com/pope-francis-g…

It still shocks me that people wake up everyday and just feel... healthy. No pain, no fatigue, no headache, no stomach ache, no joint pains just... a body floating through the day. As a chronically ill person I literally cannot imagine or remember what that feels like.

Here’s a radical idea for the New York Times: how about publishing a Catholic commentary by someone who doesn’t hate the pope?

.Mike Lewis: "arguably, the Church’s only concrete progress in the areas of prevention and accountability on sexual abuse is a fruit of the Second Vatican Council." wherepeteris.com/things-that-ro…

“I don’t think you can ever really get over the death of the few people who matter most to you. It’s too big. Oh, you do, the badly broken leg does heal, and you walk again, but always with a limp.” ~ANNE LAMOTT

“Sometimes we just can’t quiet the mind—it’s like some crazy riled-up two-year-old who can’t get to sleep—but we can find our own steadiness in the middle of that and see it as some form of God.” ~ANNE LAMOTT

Gospel: Today is #AllSoulsDay, when we remember all the "faithful departed," now enjoying eternal life. Sometimes, even for the devout believer, the idea of eternal life seems hard to accept. But we have to look to Jesus, who both tells us this many times in the Gospels and...

.... also shows us this at his Resurrection. His Resurrection reveals what God has in store for us. Finally, think about the loving relationship into which God called you at the moment of your conception. Why would God ever destroy that relationship? Be sure of God's promises.

The Catholic reaction to horrible abuse cases (whether new or historical) is similar to the North American reaction to mass shootings. Prayers and platitudes, a day or two of feuding talking points, and then nothing really changes. But every time, it eats more of the soul away.

How many of our ideas and opinions about the reform of the liturgy are rooted in traditionalist historical revisionism? And what misconceptions might we have about what motivated Paul VI, John Paul II, and Francis to limit the pre-Vatican II liturgy? wherepeteris.com/traditionalism…

I know a lot about snowflakes, and the humans who started calling other humans snowflakes aren't going to like this, but... I, Lake Superior, endorse Governor Tim Walz, Governor Tony Evers, and Governor Gretchen Whitmer for Governor of my bordering states. Get out and vote! 🌊

Ordinary faithful Catholics are confessing to little transgressions within the marriage bed or missing mass or eating too soon before receiving the Eucharist...meanwhile a cardinal kept it secret for 35 years that he once raped a 14-year-old girl. It's so f-ing twisted.

In the #GospelOfTheDay (Lk 23:35-43), the good thief calls Jesus by name, he confesses his faults, he begs: "Jesus, remember me". In this way, a criminal becomes the first saint: he draws near to Jesus for an instant and the Lord keeps him forever at his side.

It’s always a blessing to be in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament at Mass. However, it would be a bonus if the Homily was worthwhile and soul-nourishing. Maybe reading a Homily that reflects on the Gospel would be good.

It's too much to bear, really. How can endless revelations about sexual abuse in the Church not hurt one's faith? You have to become morally callous or just intentionally blind. Or, I guess, become a raving lunatic on a crusade to purify the Church. Those are the options.

December 17, 1944: A Waffen-SS unit executed 84 U.S. Army POWs at the Baugnez crossroads near Malmedy, Belgium. The atrocity, known as the Malmedy Massacre, enraged American troops and inspired them to fight with greater conviction. They are not forgotten. #WeRememberThem

Am I the only Catholic who believes "the dark night of the soul" is NOT the same as clinical Depression?