Peace Be To You!  Or should it be Peace Be “With” You? Or is it with someone’s spirit??  I never know, but Bishop Sheen always said “Peace Be To You” and it sounds much cooler…so we will go with that!

Anyways, my name is Michael and I’m an attorney.  But more importantly than that, I’m an Apostle of Jesus Christ, a Roman Catholic, My Momma Mary’s Kid, a Still Returning Lost Sheep, a Rosary Carrying Warrior for St. Michael, and most importantly, a Sinner of the Worst Kind.  Seriously…Really Bad…

As I grew up, I seemed to always know the Church’s history but never appreciated “Doctrine” or “Dogma” (No, not Buddy Christ!) or the ever more elusive and interesting “Discipline.”  I knew quite a bit of general information but never took the time to learn the nuances.  DISCLAIMER – I still don’t know much, but I’m in the process of learning more everyday!

The lack of appreciation of Doctrine certainly didn’t help me from straying from the faith in college, barely attending church on Sunday, getting wrapped up in secular and liberalist philosophies that seemed entirely plausible at the time, or, at least briefly, from wanting to convert to Calvinism!  In fact, I’m still stumbling from many of those bad habits!

Oh, I forgot to mention, I’m a scientist by training….well actually I have a Bachelor’s degree in organic chemistry and Bachelor’s degree in Psychology.  I took enough math and statistics to make my head spin, not nearly enough philosophy or theology, and quite literally lit myself on fire at least three times in the lab.  I was in the middle of filling out applications for PhD chemistry programs when I all of a sudden decided to attend law school.

My law school training taught me to be a decent public speaker…which I love…but probably a better writer and analyst.  My training in organic chemistry taught me how to break down complex ideas into easy concepts and then apply those concepts to any situation.  My training in psychology taught me how to present those concepts in a way that I think (hope!) is easy for others to understand.

So now my goal is to turn some energy towards the potentially elusive teachings of the Catholic Church and tie these teachings to modern cultural references and stories that hopefully everyone can easily understand.  In the end, I want young adults to be able to understand their faith and be able to articulate it.

Oh, yeah, one last thing, I’m a crazy big fan of theologians and (fire and brimstone) preachers, of all denominations.  I love the hard hitting style of John Corapi, the nuanced explanations of Fulton Sheen and Scott Hahn, the gentleness of Charles Stanley, the particularity of John MacArthur, the make-me-really-think qualities of R.C. Sproul, and the positive attitude of Joel Osteen.

I owe most, if not all, of my blog topics to these gentlemen.  I apologize to them if I “borrow” their topics or their tag lines…but I think that these blog topics NEED to be thought about from a Catholic perspective and unpacked for the young adults.

All For…and God Bless,

M