Author name: Thomas Gardner

I am very blessed to have a pen pal who is a religious sister. First, for those of you too young to know what a pen pal is, there was a time before texting when friends who lived far apart would mail each other letters. This is obviously much less common these days, but I […]

This past week I relistened to the soundtrack of Les Miserables (‘Les Mis’ for short), a beautiful musical which deals with deep themes like love, self-sacrifice, and redemption. To this day, it remains one of my favorite musicals of all time. The music is phenomenal, the characters and stories are compelling and the overall message

When I think back on Christmas memories, few things stick out in my mind more than the feeling of coming down the stairs on Christmas morning. I don’t know about all of you, but the “Santa’s helpers” at my home on Christmas Eve always did such a phenomenal job of arranging the presents just so.

As we approach the end of our Advent preparation today, I’ve got one of my favorite saints in mind, technically a saint-to-be: Blessed Carlo Acutis. He will be formally canonized this coming Divine Mercy Sunday, and I can’t wait. He’s probably on my mind because of the Carlo Acutis socks that I got in a

Whenever any world leader is coming to visit, there is always going to be an advance team. If the President is coming to town, the week before you’re likely going to see the Secret Service. The advance team is there to make sure everything goes smoothly when the leader arrives. They do the hidden work

Today is the final feast of our entire Liturgical year, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, or more simply, Christ the King. When we hear that title of Jesus, the King of the Universe, it is tempting to think of that kingship in overly exterior terms: the kingship of Jesus

I have Edith Stein on my mind and heart this Sunday. She was a German Jewish philosopher in the 20th Century who ended up eventually converting and becoming a Catholic nun and a great saint. Her conversion was a bit of a long road with many stops along the way. I want to tell you

Today I want to tell you about how a look transformed one man’s life. There is actually a good chance that you have seen this look if you’ve seen the movie, “The Passion of the Christ.” I have seen it many times, but only recently heard the story of Pietro Sarubbi, the Italian actor who

Blessed Carlo Acutis is one of my new favorite Saints. He is the first Millennial Saint, which – as a fellow Millennial – makes me feel drawn to him even more. I think we would probably have been friends if I had grown up in Milan, Italy. Carlo was born in 1991, and from an

It’s hard to believe that we just recently passed the 23rd anniversary of the events of September 11, 2001. Those who are old enough to remember that day probably know just where you were when you heard the news. I was in Mrs. Montenero’s French Class at Bexley High School. Fr. Mychal Judge was in