Purpose and Perseverance Podcast

There will always be another email to answer, another problem to solve, another task to finish, and another good thing we could be doing. For people who take their responsibilities seriously, it can become remarkably...

GLP-1 drugs like semaglutide and tirzepatide are helping people lose significant amounts of weight and, in many cases, improve their long-term health. But along with their growing popularity has come a strange stigma...

When someone wrongs us, Jesus tells us to do something increasingly countercultural: go directly to the person and speak to them alone. In this homily for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, I reflect on our modern...

This episode is a conversation with my very dear friend, Fr. John De Guzman. After his brief introduction and how we came to know each other, and later become close friends, we discuss the idea of perseverance...

This episode is a recording of my keynote address at the Diocese of Arlington's Mental Health Day of Prayer in August 2026. I explore what our Catholic understanding of the human person can contribute to the growing...

A day walking the hills and stairs of VMI during Matriculation got me thinking about a lesson a PE professor taught me nearly forty years ago: fitness isn't just about what we look like or what we can do in the gym...

Many years ago, during a silent retreat at Mepkin Abbey, I spent an early morning praying with Matthew's account of Jesus and Peter walking on the water. Sitting alone in the monastery refectory before sunrise, with a...

What if many of our frustrations and disappointments have less to do with God's will than with our own expectations? In this episode, I explore the difference between expectations and aspirations, and why that...

I'm pretty excited about this one. I wouldn't usually say this, but I think this might be one of the more important episodes I've recorded so far. Modern culture tells us that joy comes after achievement. St. Francis of...

After a week in the Outer Banks, I came home with four reflections: slowing down, the restorative power of nature, why health is really about freedom, and why a good vacation renews our desire to return to the work and...

Folks have often asked about the logo of Purpose and Perseverance . The answer begins with a honeymoon camping trip through Yellowstone and the surrounding national parks and winds through close encounters with bison...

One year ago, on the Fourth of July, I uploaded the first episode of Purpose and Perseverance . This week marks fifty-two consecutive Sundays and fifty-nine total episodes. So, I thought it was a good opportunity to...

This week I explore one of the more misunderstood quotations in Christian history: St. Irenaeus' statement that "The glory of God is man fully alive." Drawing from the 13th Sunday readings, St. Paul's call to die to sin...

In this homily for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, I reflect on the contrast between the whispers Jeremiah hears from those seeking to tear him down and the whispers Christ entrusts to His disciples to proclaim from...

In today's Gospel, Jesus gives His disciples a clear command: "Cure the sick." That passage has become one of the guiding principles of my own life, yet I can't help but wonder whether we have unintentionally narrowed...