Father Ray Dobson’s Blog

Hope when believing seems to make things WORSE Someone recently said to me: “I have started reading the Bible.I think I believe in God now. But since I began believing, terrible things have started happening.”Behind those words is a frightening question: Did turning toward God cause this?The short answer is no. God is not punishing

Discernment: Learning to Recognize What Leads to Life The courage to call things what they are without condemning the person Welcome to “The Practice of Freedom: Learning to Live the Virtues.”This is an ongoing journey into the virtues—not as abstract ideals or moral checklists, but as practices that slowly teach us how to live freely.Each

More courage! The Freedom to Face What We Fear If you look up pictures of Kakabeka Falls today, you will see a massive, engineered steel highway bridge—sturdy enough to carry a fleet of semi-trucks. But sixty years ago, when my grandparents took me there, crossing the river was a completely different story! Visitors had to

We live in a world that is obsessed with the physical mirror., the lense, the media.Day after day, we are bombarded by images telling us what we should look like.The world sets a plastic standard: if you are too heavy, too short, too old, too scarred, or if your anatomy does not match the latest

Gratitude: Receiving Life as Gift The faithful follower of Christ learns to receive everything with thanksgiving, knowing that nothing is truly ours except what we have received from God.St John the Baptizer says: A person can receive nothing unless it has been given from heaven. (John 3:27)And St John writes: From His fullness we have

Part 5 Faithfulness: Staying True in Small Things Faithfulness seldom draws much attention. Faithfulness is found in promises kept after the enthusiasm has faded; in prayers offered when nothing seems to be happening; in care given when no one notices; and in ordinary responsibilities carried day after day.Faithfulness is not glamorous, but without faithfulness love