Author name: Thomas Gardner

When I was in seminary one of the things I looked forward to most during my summers was the week I would spend at Catholic Youth Summer Camp as a counselor. Catholic Youth Summer Camp, ‘CYSC’ for short, was a weeklong, overnight Catholic high adventure camp for middle and high schoolers. As a seminarian, I […]

Today my thoughts are on The Lord of the Rings as we ponder the readings the Church gives us this Sunday. For those few people who may not be familiar with the story, The Lord of the Rings follows the grand adventures of Frodo, a member of a short race of people known as hobbits.

Let me tell you about a miracle and a martyr. The miracle happened to a friend of mine when he was in high school. We will call him Michael for the sake of anonymity. Michael was a bit of a wild child during his high school years. Even though he went to a Catholic all-boys