This well-known saying is often associated with Oscar Wilde — and what a story his life tells. His writings first appeared in the late 19th century, and this gifted writer wrestled with Catholicism his entire life. His life may rightly be seen as a long and difficult conversion to the Roman Catholic Church. In his final moments, a priest was satisfied that Wilde freely desired reception into the Church — and he died a Catholic.
Thank God that some of us, in our later years, have grown in the wisdom of God.
My Wisdom
Believe me when I tell you — I am still in the process of shedding the things of the world that disrupt my walk with God. Social media is a perfect example. It pulls us into irrelevant issues and before we know it, we are judging others. There is nothing more irksome than getting caught up in that dark entrapment. I, for one, am working hard to rid my mind of it. The mindless scrolling was stealing time that belonged to prayer.
Prayer
Prayer is a central part of my life. The guilt and grief I used to beat myself up about — all those hours lost to social media — that is slowly coming to an end.
Praying has led me into another realm of wisdom entirely. I no longer get worked up about the problems of the world, or what our country is currently enduring. Through the wisdom of God, new spiritual portals of faith have opened up for me at a deeper level.
For example, many times when I am praying for a person or a serious concern, the Lord will give me a vision of the situation. And with that vision, I can go even deeper into prayer.
Peace
Yes, I still get all worked up about things — but I quickly come to my senses. It is almost as if the Lord is telling me, “Snap out of it!” And then something indescribable happens: peace comes over me like a warm blanket from heaven, covering all my cold thoughts about this world.
I can attest to the many times God has gently reminded me of some uncharitable act — and I either apologize or repent. I am undoubtedly a sinner. But I can picture the pearly gates ahead of me, and I want nothing more than to please God.
Growing With Wisdom
As you get older, wisdom should come naturally — but for some, it does not. The reason is simple: they fail to ask God for wisdom. Instead, they seek direction from outside worldly sources, and that path leads straight to idolatry. We can only serve one God. And when confusion rears its ugly shadow, it casts doubt and plays dirty mind games.
I know many well-meaning people who, because they lack godly wisdom, make foolish choices. What I cannot understand is this — wisdom is there for the asking. Yet so many lack the knowledge, or simply are not aware, of how much God wants us all to live full, wholesome lives.
King Solomon
Earlier this week, the reading at Mass was about how God bestowed wisdom on Solomon. This was no ordinary wisdom — it was supernatural. When God gave it to him, He entrusted Solomon with a remarkable gift.
1 Kings 3:7-12 New American Bible (Revised Edition)
7 Now, Lord, my God, you have made me, your servant, king to succeed David my father; but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act— 8 I, your servant, among the people you have chosen, a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted. 9 Give your servant, therefore, a listening heart to judge your people and to distinguish between good and evil. For who is able to give judgment for this vast people of yours?”
10 The Lord was pleased by Solomon’s request. 11 So God said to him: Because you asked for this—you did not ask for a long life for yourself, nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies—but you asked for discernment to know what is right— 12 I now do as you request. I give you a heart so wise and discerning that there has never been anyone like you until now, nor after you will there be anyone to equal you.
Proverbs
King Solomon wrote Proverbs and the Song of Songs during his years of faithfully serving God. Today we can apply these words of wisdom from Proverbs in our everyday lives. These are a few of my favorite proverbs:
Proverbs 9:9-10 New American Bible (Revised Edition)
9 Instruct the wise, and they become still wiser; teach the just, and they advance in learning. 10 The beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Proverbs 11:27 New American Bible (Revised Edition)
27 Those who seek the good seek favor, but those who pursue evil will have evil come upon them.
Proverbs 13:3 New American Bible (Revised Edition)
3 Those who guard their mouths preserve themselves; those who open wide their lips bring ruin.
Proverbs 15:1 New American Bible (Revised Edition)
1 A mild answer turns back wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Proverbs 20:15 New American Bible (Revised Edition)
15 One can put on gold and abundant jewels, but wise lips are the most precious ornament.
Proverbs 26:11 New American Bible (Revised Edition)
11 As dogs return to their vomit, so fools repeat their folly.
Ecclesiastes
King Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes after he fell from grace. Disobedience led him into sin. His idolatry — worshipping the foreign gods of his wives — greatly angered God. And though God warned Solomon against these grave sins, he continued allowing the worship of other gods. (1 Kings 11:9–13).
Did King Solomon repent? There is no biblical record of Solomon repenting — and whether he went to heaven or hell, we simply do not know.
My Prayer
Dear Lord, thank You for the beautiful words of wisdom written by King Solomon. As we grow older, may we seek You for wisdom. Direct our paths so that we never stray or serve other gods. Amen.
If you want to be a saint, long-suffering should be your middle name.
Ignatius
Ignatius loved his life. He was born into a noble family in northern Spain and thrived in the world of the royal court and military life. He loved chivalrous challenges — the honor, the glory, the fight.
Until it all came to an end.
At the Battle of Pamplona, his army was badly outnumbered. Most men would have walked away. Not Ignatius. He persuaded his commanding officer to stay and fight. It did not go well. A cannonball tore through both of his legs, shattering one completely.
Just like that, the life he loved was over.
But that cannonball did not just break his legs — it cracked open his heart. Lying flat on his back with nowhere to go and nothing to do, Ignatius picked up a book on the life of Christ and the saints. Something stirred in him that no battlefield ever had.
His suffering was not the end of his story. It was the beginning.
Saint Ignatius of LoyolaSaint Ignatius of Loyola
The Convalescing Soldier
Ignatius struggled during his recovery. He wanted to lose himself in tales of chivalry and romance — but the only books available were on the life of Christ and the saints. At first, it was not exactly what he had in mind.
But something happened.
The more he read, the more his heart shifted. A new desire began to replace the old ones. He wanted to do great things — not for a king, but for God. His conscience would not let him rest. He felt a burning need to do penance, to make things right, and to go all the way to Jerusalem.
He spent years planning that trip to the Holy Land.
God had other plans.
The Jesuits
God knew exactly what He had in Ignatius. What started as a wounded soldier with a restless soul became something far greater. In 1540, Ignatius and a small band of devoted companions founded the Society of Jesus — the Jesuits. They became powerful instruments of Catholic renewal at one of the most turbulent moments in the history of the Church, carrying the faith to the far corners of the world.
The Calling
When the Lord calls, sometimes He needs to break your leg to get your attention.
This is exactly what happened to Saint Ignatius. He was, first and foremost, a soldier for Spain — and beyond that, a womanizer and a thoroughly worldly man. At the Battle of Pamplona against the French, his leg was so badly shattered that it had to be broken again and reset by surgeons.
But that only made things worse.
The bone protruded so much that it bothered him greatly. Men wore tights in those days, and a disfigured leg was simply not acceptable to a man like Ignatius. He ordered the doctors to break it again.
There was no anesthesia.
He did not flinch. He endured the procedure without so much as a cry. Ignatius already had a clear and intimate understanding of physical pain — and an iron will to match it. What he did not yet know was that God was already putting both to use.
Romans 5:3-5 New Catholic Bible
3 And not only that, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we realize that suffering develops perseverance,4 and perseverance produces character, and character produces hope.5 Such hope will not be doomed to disappointment, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Life Experience
Ignatius was a well-trained soldier — and even that was ordained by God. He took everything he learned on the battlefield and poured it into building the Society of Jesus. When you serve under a commanding general, following orders is not optional. It saves your life. Ignatius understood this, and he built his new order on that same foundation of discipline, obedience, and mission.
But there was another side to Ignatius that is easy to overlook.
He went back to school. Not a university — a classroom full of children between the ages of eight and fourteen. A grown man, a former soldier, sitting alongside boys learning their basics. He swallowed his pride and started from the beginning. He later went on to study at the College of Sainte-Barbe, a respected university in Paris.
Humility, it turns out, is also a form of discipline.
The Confessions
Like so many saints, Ignatius carried the weight of his past. In confession, the sins of his youth haunted him relentlessly. The torment grew so severe that it pushed him toward suicidal thoughts. It was his confessor who finally offered him relief — directing him to stop re-confessing sins already forgiven. That simple counsel lifted a crushing burden and freed Ignatius to move forward.
God had forgiven him. He needed to believe it.
St. Ignatius’ Apparitions
Throughout his spiritual life, Ignatius experienced many apparitions. Christ appeared to him repeatedly — consoling him, strengthening him, and reminding him he was not alone. This was not a man living in comfort. Ignatius depended on the charity of others, begging for alms just to survive. In Venice, he sustained himself by begging and sleeping on the steps of St. Mark’s Basilica.
St. Mark’s Square is one of the most visited places in the world. Tourists fill it every day without any idea that one of the greatest saints in the history of the Church once slept on those very steps.
The Enlightenment
On his way to pray at a small church outside of Manresa, Ignatius stopped and sat along the riverbank. What happened next is difficult to put into words — because it was not exactly a vision.
Sitting there, facing the river, his eyes of understanding simply opened.
He did not see anything extraordinary. He knew things. Spiritual things. Truths about God and faith and the interior life flooded into him with a clarity he had never experienced before. It was so overwhelming, so complete, that the entire world seemed new to him afterward.
Some moments change everything. That was one of them.
Jerusalem
Ignatius did make it to Jerusalem. Despite every obstacle thrown in his path, God gave him the desire of his heart.
In 1523, he boarded a pilgrim ship with almost nothing to his name — only hope. His intention was to stay in Jerusalem permanently, spending his days visiting the holy places where Christ had walked. But it was not to be. The provincial authorities made it clear: it was too dangerous for him to remain. Ignatius was sent away from the very place he had spent years longing to reach.
God’s plans and our plans rarely look the same.
Jesus’ Footprints
Before leaving the Holy Land, Ignatius had one final, burning desire — to return to the Mount of Olives. This is the sacred ground where our Lord ascended into heaven, leaving His very footprints behind before being taken up into the clouds. (Acts 1:9–12)
It is a place that leaves a mark on every pilgrim who visits it.
Having traveled to the Holy Land over twenty years with a lay group, the Chapel of the Ascension was never once missed. Staying at the Mount of Olives Hotel, it was often just a short walk to reach that holy ground. Nearby stands the Church of the Pater Noster, built on the place where our Lord taught His disciples the Our Father — a prayer the whole world now prays.
Ignatius stood there knowing he had to leave. He went anyway, one last time, just to be close to where Jesus had been.
That is what love does.
Ignatius’ Roommates
Imagine sharing a room with Francis Xavier and Peter Faber.
These three saints actually lived together as roommates — and all three became founding members of the Society of Jesus. Peter Faber came from Haute-Savoie, a region tucked into the French Alps in southeastern France, near Mont Blanc. Francis Xavier came from a castle in Navarre, Spain — a world away in background, but united in mission.
On August 15, 1534 — the Feast of the Assumption — Ignatius, Faber, and Xavier knelt alongside Diego Lainez, Alonso Salmeron, Nicolas Bobadilla, and Simão Rodrigues and pronounced their Jesuit vows together in Paris. Seven men. One calling. The Society of Jesus had begun.
It was not a coincidence that they chose Our Lady’s feast day to make their vows.
Education
Of all the religious orders in the Catholic Church, the Jesuits are known for having the longest and most demanding formation. Depending on the path, studies can range anywhere from eight years to as many of seventeen to twenty. The fruit of that commitment is visible everywhere.
Loyola University Chicago, Loyola University New Orleans, and Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles are just a few of the institutions that bear this saint’s name — institutions built on the belief that faith and rigorous intellectual formation are not opposites, but partners.
Ignatius understood that to change the world, you had to form the minds that would lead it.
Luke 20:37-38 New Catholic Bible
37 “That the dead are raised Moses himself showed in the account about the bush where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.38 He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for in his sight all are alive.”
Honoring Saints
There is a reason the Church asks us to honor the saints and seek their intercession. They are not distant figures frozen in history — they are alive in Christ, interceding before the throne of God on our behalf.
If you are a college student, ask Saint Ignatius of Loyola to intercede for you. If you are searching for direction, ask him. If you are struggling to surrender your will to God’s, ask him. He has walked that road.
So much of Ignatius’ life could not be covered in a single writing. The full weight of who he was — soldier, pilgrim, beggar, mystic, founder, saint — is simply too vast. But what can be said with certainty is this: the world needs men and women like Ignatius now more than ever. In a time of confusion and noise, his life stands as a clear and steady witness to what happens when a soul surrenders completely to God.
A Prayer
Dear Lord,grant us the interior vision You gave Saint Ignatius.Enlighten our spirits to see the world through Your eyes.Open what is closed within us.Set our hearts on fire with love for You.Amen.
On January 25th, we celebrate the Conversion of Saint Paul.The road to Damascus was not easily paved for me either. It took many meandering turns before God led me where He wanted me. Uncertainty about the new direction brought many questions: “Is this where You want me, Lord?” — and if so, “Give me a sign!” The sign was sitting right next to me (more on that later), but still more answers seemed necessary. When the journey toward the Holy Catholic Church began, no one in the family followed.Bringing young children along on this dusty road came with a price. Mike wanted nothing to do with it — not because he was so Catholic, but because he felt it was pulling the family apart. For years, that winding path of discovering who I was in Christ was building toward a dramatic turn. Like Paul, the collision was coming.
Our 2022 Sacramental marriage with Fr. Leonard officiating and Fr. John concelebrating
Bashing Catholics
Bible in hand and pride in full armor, it seemed clear that Catholics needed a wake-up call. After all, they prayed to saints and worshiped Mary — or so it seemed. Arrows were sharpened and placed in the quiver, ready for battle, because surely these poor Catholics needed salvation. The campaign launched. From an imaginary soapbox came warnings to friends about the dangers of the Catholic Church. And then, just like Paul, the high horse gave way — and the ground came up fast.
Two Women
The mission to convert the world to Protestant beliefs fell on deaf ears — thankfully. Two dear friends, unlike me, were richly catechized. They never challenged or questioned. They simply prayed. And somehow, that was enough.
The Sacrament of Confirmation
At one point, a nephew asked to have me as his Confirmation sponsor. Of course, the answer was yes. But a dear friend gently intervened — pointing out that sponsoring him wasn’t possible, because a practicing Catholic is required for that role. She went so far as to make an appointment with her parish priest to help sort things out. The priest explained it clearly. In arrogance, though, the words went in one ear and out the other. Travel arrangements were made for New Orleans — and then God intervened.
A Day Late
Arriving at the airport, the ticket read the following day. The Confirmation would be missed entirely. As it should have been — his brother stepped in as the rightful sponsor.
Born Again
The road to Damascus was paved with real growth. The years in the “Born Again” movement were not wasted — far from it. Biola University (Bible Institute of Los Angeles) became home for a season, where a Bachelor of Science degree was earned and another dream fulfilled by God’s grace. Biola in the ’90s did not admit Catholics — a detail that, in hindsight, simply shows how God can use any road, even a detour, to bring someone home.
Now there is understanding — and compassion — for those still finding their way. Not everyone arrives at the same moment or by the same path. But together, we belong to one family of God, and that is reason enough to rejoice.
Saint Paul
Saul of Tarsus was on his way to Damascus with one purpose: stop the spread of Christianity. He went to the high priest and asked for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains.
He never arrived as planned. On the journey, as he neared Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him to Damascus. For three days he was unable to see, and he neither ate nor drank.
The House of Judas
There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight and ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul.” The Lord said to Ananias: “Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and children of Israel.”
Three Days of Silence
In that blindness and silence, God was dismantling the old self. Immediately, things like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight. He got up and was baptized, and when he had eaten, he recovered his strength. Paul was not transformed by a thought but by an event — by the irresistible presence of the Risen One. It radically changed his life in a fundamental way; in this sense, one can and must speak of a conversion.
The Ananias Passage(Acts 9:10–16, NABRE)
There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight and ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is there praying, and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, that he may regain his sight.” But Ananias replied, “Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man, what evil things he has done to your holy ones in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to imprison all who call upon your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for this man is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles, kings, and Israelites, and I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name.” (Acts 9:10–16, NABRE)
The Change
The word conversion means a change of character, and that is exactly what happened to Paul. He went from being a hater of Christians to one of the most prolific writers in the history of Christianity. Paul believed he had a mandate from God to stop the spread of Christianity — but God knew from Paul’s birth that He would use him mightily.
The Saving Grace
The Lord is always with me, and He is who I cry out to when I am in need. I thank God for all the saints who have interceded on my behalf. Our Heavenly Mother has always been and will always be the perfect role model for all women.
Mike
On January 25th, Mike and I celebrated our 53rd wedding anniversary. I was 19 and he was 21 years old when we got married. One of God’s main purposes was to bring me back to the Catholic Church so that Mike would be at my side. Every Sunday we worship together at the 8:30 a.m. Mass at St. Norbert.
My Prayer
Lord, You have given Mike and me so many wonderful years together. At the twilight of our years, may we grow stronger in our love for one another, with You as our guide. Amen.
