Do you ever stop to notice the birds in the busyness of your day? Do you notice how they seemingly happily hop from branch to branch, sounding loudly in a near constant song? We are so busy in our day-to-day life and so used to the singing of the birds that we hardly even notice them.

For most of my life I paid no attention to birds. They were simply in the background of my world like all the other things that are there that you never notice…

But while at a recent silent retreat, the abundance of birds throughout the abbey grounds captivated me.

These birds started their day by singing the “dawn chorus,” awakening me with windows wide all singing in concert to announce the start of the day. As I heard their singing, the bells of the abbey sounded to call us to prayer. I will forever associate birdsong with those bells and quiet prayer in the early morning hours.

At meals, we sat silently looking out the window at a garden filled with flowers and bird feeders where it seemed like the birds put on a show with constant fluttering about. I was amazed to watch the female cardinal feed the male (so much so I exclaimed aloud at a silent retreat ;-)) and marvel in the varieties and colors of the birds here in the hills of Kentucky – all coming to have a bite to eat in the lovely garden.

As I reflected on the birds, God reminded me of the verse in Matthew 6:25-33…

“Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?

Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?

Why are you anxious about clothes? Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin.

But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them.

If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you, O you of little faith?

So do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear?’

All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

But seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.

Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.”

What a beautiful passage to meditate upon! Let’s consider it piece by piece…

Anxiety & Choice

The first thing that appears to me in this verse is the human tendency toward anxiety. I was watching a show recently where the priest commented that Adam became anxious before the fall. He became anxious as soon as he realized he had a choice.

We are filled with countless choices in our day – some small, some seemingly monumental. Should we eat here or there? Should we go on a diet? Should we switch career paths? What to wear today?

Many of us are filled with anxiety at all of these choices. Adam had one; we have too many to count.

Perhaps this is why in the Bible, we hear the phrase “Do not fear,” or here “Do not worry,” over and over and over again. And this passage addresses exactly that: fear and anxiety and the remedy.

To start with, perhaps God is telling us to let the little things go. Jesus says that life is more than food and drink and clothes. While some people legitimately do not have these basic needs met, those of us who do can drop the worry about these little things.

God Will Provide

There have been many times in my life where I’ve struggled financially and was filled with worry. But really, I had food, I had water, I had clothes. And I had a LOT more than that. It’s more the fear of a loss of a particular lifestyle – and that’s not the end of the world if you have to downgrade your lifestyle. No matter what, I would have food and clothes and water. And beyond that, I was adding unnecessary worry.

Next, Jesus says to look at the birds. They DO NOT WORRY. They just do their thing.

They are flying, building nests, eating and singing. They don’t have reasoning, as we do, so they are incapable of worry, but are they any the worse for it? No, we can learn a thing or two from the birds.

It’s important to note that He also says that they gather nothing into barns, meaning they are not saving up for a rainy day. They are trusting God to provide. Sometimes, I think God strips us of our physical and monetary goods to help us learn how to trust Him. We aren’t trusting in the bank account where we’ve saved up hundreds of thousands of dollars that if we die tonight will not help us, but in God to provide only what we need.

That’s not to say it’s a bad thing to be financially prudent, yet look at St. Francis and his brothers who begged for all they had. And God provided.

Worry Is Fruitless

This next portion is the real zinger in my opinion: Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?

Uh, no.

Can we emblazon that on our hearts, repeat it to ourselves every day? What good is worry?

While going through many trials and tribulations with my mother as we began to discover she had dementia, I learned a valuable lesson. Stop worrying.

I reminded myself that worrying about her, or whatever the problem was at the given moment, did not help her at all. Whatever the situation, it would either work out well or poorly and me worrying about it would not change that outcome. It would only create more suffering for me in the process. So as best I could, I tried to let go of worry and just deal with the outcome. Again and again, God provided in miraculous ways and in angels sent to help us on our path.

God Wants Us in THIS Moment and THIS Circumstance

Fr. Mike Schmitz led a great series of homilies during Lent in 2024 about a man named Walter Csizek, a priest who suffered terrible persecution at the hands of the Russians in the 20th century.

Csizek wrote several books about his experience and how he learned to trust God’s will no matter what was happening to him. He realized that God wanted him in EVERY circumstance that was happening, no matter how bad, and all he could do was his best to fulfill God’s will in that moment.

God does not ever will evil, but He does permit it insofar as he can bring good out of it, according to St. Thomas Aquinas.

So if I find myself in a stressful circumstance these days, I say to myself as much as needed, “God desires me to be in THIS circumstance in THIS moment.” It is His will whatever is happening and instead of trying to change it or fight it or argue against it, I need to just do the best I can with it. He WILL bring good from it – whether I see that good or not.

What’s the Remedy?

“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be given you besides.”

Pursue God. Go to mass. Pray the Liturgy of the Hours. Go to confession and receive absolution. Receive the Eucharist. Talk to God. Sit in adoration. Desire His will above all things. Give God control of your life.

Do the things that you know will keep you connected to the true vine, that will grow your relationship with God, that will feed you with the divine life. And then… trust.

To remind myself of the incredible lesson that the birds can teach us, I came home after the retreat and bought 2 bird feeders for our yard. Now, I enjoy watching the birds and have a constant reminder that they do not reap or sow, but God takes care of them. How much more will He do that for us?

During the pandemic when we were all in lockdown, I took the opportunity to rediscover what things I wanted to add back into my life after much of it was taken away – and which things I wanted to leave behind. 

One of the biggest things I discovered during this period was praying the Liturgy of the Hours. Second to attending mass, praying the Liturgy of the Hours is the best way to plug yourself into the liturgy of the Church and strive toward holiness and sainthood.

I’ve tried to pray the Liturgy of the Hours at different times since converting in 2013, but it just didn’t “stick” and sadly, still didn’t stick entirely after lockdown ended.

The prayers felt dry and I felt like I was just “reading the words,” which is how another friend described to me her experience of praying the Liturgy of the Hours. 

But things have changed! Let me show you why as lay people, we are also called to this universal prayer of the Church, and perhaps if you’ve had that same “dry” experience, let me offer some tips for how to pray the Liturgy of the Hours so it can become more meaningful…

What Is the Liturgy of the Hours?

Though I’m now a 10-year and counting member of the Catholic Church, it was only about three years ago that I really began to understand what the Liturgy of the Hours truly is.

The Liturgy of the Hours is the “universal prayer” of the Church that takes place multiple times throughout the day, including 6 a.m., 9 a.m., Noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m., 9 p.m. and midnight. Religious (sisters, brothers, monks and nuns) pray the full Liturgy of the Hours, much of it while gathered together, while priests and bishops are only called to pray a few of them throughout the day.

I’ve visited the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky where the monks actually get up to pray the middle-of-the-night prayer at 3:15 a.m. EVERY DAY. Can you imagine? That’s dedication!

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Vatican II calls lay people to also pray this most holy of liturgies that most closely connects the Church and is second only to the praying of the mass.

When you pray the Liturgy of the Hours, you are praying with Catholics ALL OVER THE WORLD, including bishops, cardinals and the Pope. How very cool!

The Liturgy of the Hours is a collection of Psalms, Canticles (think Mary’s Magnificat and Zechariah’s canticle), Bible readings, hymns, prayers and even readings from the saints, fathers and Doctors of the Church. They typically take between 5 to 10 minutes to pray alone or could take as long as 20 or 30 minutes when they are sung and prayed in community.

You don’t have to pray the “hours” at the exact time, but somewhere near the intended time is good. But, for example, you could pray “Morning Prayer” (called Lauds) whenever you get up in the morning or after attending daily mass in the morning and “Evening Prayer” (called Vespers) after dinner or a few hours before going to bed. “Night Prayer” (Compline) is designed for you to pray it just before going to sleep and is shorter and easier to remember.

And don’t worry, if you’re praying alone, no need to sing the hymns (how would you know the melody anyway?). Just read them like a poem.

The Office of Readings

One facet of the Liturgy of the Hours that I did NOT understand is what’s called the “Office of Readings.” You can pray this set at ANY time of day.

This is one of my favorites, because one of my charisms is “learning,” and this one is FULL of learning. 

In fact, one of my theology professors recommended as theology students we pray this daily to ensure we are fully immersed in prayer as much as we are study.

In addition to the hymn, prayers and psalms, the Office of Readings gives you a MUCH longer Bible reading and follows a sequence, so you are reading parts of Job all together or the story of King David or the judges all together, etc.

Then it’s followed by my FAVORITE part: a writing from a saint or Doctor of the Church. These readings are true gems. They are readings most people would have no idea where to find by themselves and are SO thought-provoking and interesting. 

For example, on St. Thomas More’s feast day (he’s a martyr), we read a letter he wrote to his daughter while he was imprisoned and didn’t know if he would be killed for not adhering to the religion of the state. It’s one of my favorites.

He wrote…

“Nothing can come but what God wills. And I am very sure that whatever that may be, however bad it may seem, it shall indeed be the best.”

Isn’t that incredible to take a peek into a personal letter from a saint on his deathbed? Amazing!

There’s also plenty from St. Augustine, so wise in explaining our faith, as well as St. Gregory the Great, St. Bonaventure, St. Teresa of Avila and again, readings from saints on their feast days. 

If you want to grow in the knowledge of your faith and grow in prayer, this is an AWESOME way to do it.

Why Pray the Liturgy of the Hours NOW?

I personally feel extremely called to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, and I feel closer to God than ever.

I see much more clearly how he is guiding me and I see his directions for me everywhere. So much so that it almost seems ridiculous and indicates his unending generosity and tender care.

Vatican II says that praying the Liturgy of the Hours is arranged such that “the whole cycle of day and night can be consecrated through the praise of God.” (Sacrosanctum Concilium, Chapter 4: 84) and that “the purpose of the [Divine Office] is to sanctify the day.”

We are CONSECRATING and SANCTIFYING our ENTIRE life, day and night, by praying the Liturgy of the Hours. No wonder it brings about a closeness to God!

We live in a challenging culture, which has disconnected itself from God, making each person his own god with the perceived ability to chart his own happiness and determine what’s right and wrong for himself. Yet, so many of these people certainly aren’t joyful or even happy.

I heard a great quote from a talk given at the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame about St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa), noting she “gave up happiness to seek joy.” I love that…

We know that we will only find our true joy in God, and it’s a joy that transcends through trials and tribulations whereas happiness is often aiming for an absence of suffering, which we know we cannot escape in this life. This joy manifests itself as a deep internal peace through trust in God and surety that He is leading us along the right path.

I personally feel evil at work in a deep and profound way with grave attacks on the Church, on the family, on our ability to gather as Christians to receive the Eucharist during the pandemic, to pray and just to connect, an essential part of the Church. 

Of course, God is working good through all of this, but I think we must take up our cross and join the battle, and the best way to do so is through prayer.

In fact prayer can effect much more than actions, according to some of the great teachers of our Church. In the book, “The Soul of the Apostolate” by Jean Baptiste Chautard, he says, “A short but fervent prayer will usually do more to bring about a conversion than long discussions or fine speeches.”

He goes on to say that a single burning prayer of St. Teresa of Avila converted 10,000 heretics and quotes a Chinese bishop as saying, “Ten Carmelite nuns praying will be of greater use to me than 20 missionaries preaching.”

I can’t resist sharing two more quotes from that book…

“It is their [meaning nuns, sisters, monks and brothers] secret but active love, which awakens the voice of mercy in every part of a world of sinners.”

“[A cloistered nun’s] fingers play upon the keyboard of divine forgiveness and of the eternal lights; this silent and lonely soul presides over the salvation of souls and the conquests of the Church.”

And I personally felt that on my silent retreat at the Abbey of Gethsemani. It seems that these humble monks, who have been praying seven times a day for the last 150+ years, are holding the world together in their prayer.

Vatican II Invites the Laity to the Divine Office

What first inspired me to start praying the Liturgy of the Hours again — and with regularity —  was a brilliant podcast from Brandon Vogt and Father Blake Britton. It’s called “How (and Why) to Pray the Liturgy of the Hours,” and it’s part of their awesome Burrowshire Podcast, which is sadly now retired, but you can still listen to the existing episodes. I highly recommend it!

They explain how the millennial and Gen Z generation, especially, though I’m part of Gen X and feel we are a part of that, as well, will be the ones to put the teachings of Vatican II in place in the world.

Vatican II sometimes is associated with the impression of “modernizing” the Church too much, but I recently read the documents, and it’s an incredibly easy read that in no way comes across that way to me. In fact, it’s a stunningly beautiful document. 

What Vatican II is doing is actually taking the Church back to its earliest days instead of the tradition that developed and that was in use before Vatican II. Vatican II is going back to an earlier tradition direct from the apostles and those who knew them. So it’s actually the opposite of “modernizing”.

I recommend reading Vatican II for yourself, as well, so you know where we’re called to take Catholicism into the future. It’s really like a mini-Cathechism.

Vatican II specifically calls the laity (non-priests and religious) to greater participation in the liturgy and life of the Church, including the Liturgy of the Hours.

Here are some of the things Vatican II (in the document Sancrosanctum Concilium) has to say about the Liturgy of the Hours (also called the Divine Office):

It is “the hymn which is sung in the realms above throughout every age” and that you are joining Jesus in “the divine singing together of a song of praise.” (Read my take on why praise should be a part of your prayer).

“The Divine Office is also a source of holiness and of nourishment for personal prayer insofar as it is the public prayer of the Church.” (Chapter 4: Paragraph 90)

“The Divine Office is the voice of the Church, of the whole mystical body, praising God in public.” (4:99)

“It is recommended that lay people also recite the Divine Office…” in addition to priests… as a group or alone. (4:100)

The Practicalities of How to Pray the Liturgy of the Hours

As most things that you truly want to add into your life, it must become a habit. And habits are most easily developed — and kept — when you attach the activity to something else you’re already doing, part of your daily routine.

My Liturgy of the Hours schedule looks like this:

• Morning prayer (Lauds) after waking up and having breakfast
• Daily Mass at 9 a.m. – Office of Readings
• Vespers on days when I go to Adoration or take an evening walk
• Night prayer (Compline) before going to bed

I attach morning prayer to my morning routine, part of the activities I do before beginning my work day. If I go to morning mass, I’ll usually take time to read the Office of Readings there before mass begins.

Lastly, night prayer takes place before I go to bed. The trick here is to go to bed before I can barely keep my eyes open, when I’m more likely to skip praying night prayer.

It doesn’t need to be anything complicated. And if you miss one, no big deal. Just get back to it at your next scheduled time.

And after visiting the Abbey of Gethsemani where I heard the monks chant the Liturgy of the Hours multiple times a day, I kind of got the hang of the chant ;-). It’s really quite easy: one note for the first line and then the same note, but go down at the end of the second line and then rotate back and forth. I am no singer, but have been able to master this.

I find I enjoy it so much more if I chant the prayers. It really makes them come alive!

To get the hang of it or to “chant” along with someone else, you can listen to them on Spotify created every day by Paul Rose. It’s called “The Liturgy of the Hours: Sing the Hours” and is beautiful to listen to, plus you can learn some Latin, learn the chant and follow along with the words he is singing.

I think you’ll find, like me, that you miss it when you don’t pray it and that the fruits of this prayer are tremendous!

Resources

The Universalis App

In terms of where to find the Liturgy of the Hours so you can pray them, I advise using the Universalis app. It’s $10 for one year, but wonderful and it makes it super easy to pray. It also has some other nice features, as well, in addition to the Liturgy of the Hours, that encourages you to stay in tune with the Catholic Church’s Liturgical Calendar (like saints feast days, etc.).

I’ve also discovered that Universalis now has a wonderful podcast where its creator explains the feasts and celebrations of the Church over the coming week and explains the history and various aspects of the Liturgy of the Hours. Super informative! Plus, he has a British accent, and who doesn’t enjoy a good British accent ;-).

You can also opt for Word on Fire’s book version of the Divine Office (another name for the Liturgy of the Hours) which is a subscription that comes in the mail each month.

I personally don’t like the book version. I like to be able to do it on the go, while walking, at church, anywhere, which is easiest to do on my phone. Plus, if all I have to do is open an app, and click on the hour I want to pray, I’m much more likely to do it!

Laudate is a free app that has the Liturgy of the Hours as an option, but they don’t have the official translation that religious pray. I found I did not like their translation, and praying with Universalis instead made all the difference.

Universalis also has a free one-month trial via their app “Catholic Calendar,” so you can see if you really want to delve into this or not.

If you want to learn more about the Liturgy of the Hours in a very easy-to-read approachable manner, I highly recommend reading “The Everyday Catholic’s Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours” by Daria Sockey.

You may also want to take a look at what the USCCB has to say about the Liturgy of the Hours.

Questions? Post them below!

Credit ViewingMalta.com

Before my Catholic conversion began, there were several stand-out moments where I felt drawn to the faith. There were other moments, which at the time I did not recognize, but in which I now see God’s providence working!

I had a light bulb moment when writing a travel article about a beautiful Mediterranean island called Gozo I was blessed enough to visit for my work back in 2006.

I was not remotely interested in Catholicism at that time; however, this island, which is next to Malta in the Mediterranean, is very Catholic and filled from end to end with gorgeous Catholic churches.

We visited one in particular called Ta’ Pinu Basilica. At the time, I just remember going in the church and feeling an amazing sense of peace. I would describe it as the same peace I felt when I first went to mass of my own accord. I really had thought nothing of it until I was writing an article and went back to look at my notes.

Turns out, this church is a Shrine to Mary and is built where two villagers said they heard the voice of Our Lady. Many miracles are said to have happened to people who visited and prayed there.

Here is the story, according to the shrine’s website:

On the 22nd June 1883, Karmela Grima a forty-five year-old spinster and great devotee of the Blessed Virgin, heard a call, while passing by the chapel on her return home from the fields which surrounded the chapel. “Come, come,” she heard a woman’s voice say. She was confused and frightened, and began to run away from the place. The voice called again, and this time Karmela realised that the voice was coming from within the chapel. She went inside and said her usual prayers. The voice which had come from the image of the Blessed Virgin asked her to recite three Ave Marias in honour of the three days Her body remained in the tomb before Assumption to Heaven.

Karmela did as the voice asked and went on her way. Shortly afterwards, Karmela fell ill and remained confined to her bed for more than a year. After this time, Karmela revealed her secret to a friend, Francesco Portelli, who in turn told her that about the same time he also heard a woman’s voice asking him to pray from within the chapel. Shortly after this mysterious call, Francesco’s mother was miraculously healed by the intercession of Our Lady of Ta` Pinu. The lonely chapel became a place of pilgrimage for many people on the island and beyond.

St. Pope John Paul II even visited the shrine in 1990, praying in the Chapel, celebrating mass and decorating an image of Our Lady with five golden stars.

Pope Benedict XVI also mentioned Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu on a visit to Malta in 2010.

I am convinced this is a VERY special place that I had no idea of at the time. I walked where St. Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI prayed and celebrated mass!

So it left me to wonder if perhaps some heavenly grace and prayers from our Mother Mary and St. Pope John Paul II, who died in 2005, were granted me upon that visit.

It truly was not long thereafter, perhaps not even a year, that I began to feel that calling to go to the Catholic Church.

Mother Mary, you are amazing and I thank you for your blessings! St. Pope John Paul II, pray for us!

To read more of my travel articles, head over to my travel site, FamiliesTravelFree.com.

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In October 2020, my friend, Father Christopher Roberts, passed away in a tragic accident, at the age of only 41. He was currently serving as pastor of St. Paul Catholic Church in Marion, Indiana.

I have known Father since before my conversion to Catholicism in 2013, and he was a key catalyst on my growth as a Catholic. To count him as my friend and a kindred spirit was a great blessing and gift from God, as he was certainly one of the most holy and brilliant humans I have known.

I want to share my personal experiences with him to demonstrate in one small way, through his actions in my life, the depth of quiet holiness, kindness and humility he displayed that many may not have known or realized about him.

Many described Father Roberts (that is how I knew him, as the more formal last name was used at my parish during his time there, though many others knew him as Father Christopher) as “intense” and indeed he was. He was a devout Catholic and serious about it.

But his intensity, I believe, came from his desire to both live his own faith in the best way he could AND to call the Catholics he served to do likewise.

Father called you to be BEST Christian you could be, not some half-hearted or lukewarm version.

And that is no easy task.

In fact, I think it’s why many people steer clear of Catholicism. It is a difficult path to strive for perfection, requiring you to strip yourself of many of the things that feel comfortable and familiar but that are getting in the way of your path to salvation.

In 2013, when asked about his long-term goals, he said, “To become a good pastor – a priest who understands how to challenge people, but also to do it in such a way that brings them along slowly.”

Father Roberts didn’t let you off the hook with your faith; out of love, he called you to this challenging, but most rewarding path.

And thank goodness for that.

He loved his parishioners, always looking for ways to better serve them and engage them. At one point during the pandemic, he shared with me the difficulties of the experience, saying “there is also the loss of one of the great joys in the life of a parish priest — seeing one’s parishioners” and expressing how much he was looking forward to having mass again with his congregation.

Father was a brilliant man, whom my parish’s current priest, Father Travis Stephens, described as likely to have moved up in the hierarchy of the Church (I wholeheartedly agree and always thought he might be bishop some day ;-)) and as most certainly in heaven. I also agree on that point as well, as I have a strong sense that he is in heaven praying for us mightily as we continue our pilgrimage here on earth.

Let me start by telling you a little about him and then I will share the many acts of kindness, generosity and faith that I witnessed as he acted in our diocese and specifically in my life.

About Father

Courtesy St. Paul Catholic Church

Father Roberts grew up in Logansport, Indiana, in a family of six children (he was the youngest). He graduated from Logansport High School as valedictorian and went on to graduate magna cum laude from Harvard. No easy feat.

When he decided to pursue the priesthood, he attended the North American College Seminary in Rome (where he learned to speak Italian; he could also fluently speak Spanish from travels in Spain and Mexico, leading many Spanish masses and bringing many Hispanics back to the faith) and was ordained a priest in 2007.

Prior to his death, he was still pursuing knowledge, a lifelong pursuit for him, which is one of the interests we shared — a thirst for knowledge — though my intellect is not even in the solar system of his :).

In 2020, he was completing his licentiate in Mariology at the University of Dayton — all while serving as pastor of TWO parishes.

I was honored to be able to attend his thesis defense (online via Zoom due to the pandemic) in May of 2020, which he passed with high honors. His thesis had been a struggle, which he persevered through, after having to rewrite everything when he thought he was finished and then revise it yet again. He was awarded his licentiate posthumously in December 2020.

Father’s Impact on the the Diocese of Lafayette Indiana

Courtesy St. Alphonsus Liguori Catholic Church

When I reflect back on Father’s life, I was amazed to remember how many ways he gave to his parishioners and the members of this diocese.

Here is but a handful of the acts I personally remember and I’m sure there are so many others I don’t even know about (please comment below with any other memories)…

1. Father was one of the few (if not the only) priests who could lead a full Latin mass in our diocese, and he did so frequently for the benefit of those who desired this traditional form of the mass.

2. During his time at my parish, St. Alphonsus Liguori in Zionsville, he started a group of men to perform Gregorian chant at mass. So cool!

3. I remember a Divine Mercy Sunday where he offered confession after mass for as long as anyone wanted to come. This was because on Divine Mercy Sunday there is a special indulgence (a way to purge some of the punishment due to sin you have committed) for those who attend confession, receive communion, participate in public devotion to The Divine Mercy and pray for the pope’s intentions.

It was a WONDERFUL offering that I took advantage of, as did many others, because it is so convenient to attend confession when you are already at mass. Father stayed there for HOURS, hearing the confessions of our parishioners. What a blessing!

4. While at St. Alphonsus, I remember seeing him walk around our small town in his full cassock praying the rosary. What a brave and very visible witness to the Catholic faith!

5. Father was also friends with a very devout Catholic young man, Nathan Trapuzzano, whom he met during his time at Ball State University and who was tragically murdered on a morning walk in Indianapolis in 2014. Father had presided over Trapuzzano’s wedding, where he shared in a 2020 homily that the devout young couple had asked that everyone attend confession before attending their wedding mass :).

The couple had been married less than a year, and his wife was expecting a baby when Trapuzzano was shot and killed.

At his funeral mass, Father encouraged mourners to focus on forgiveness, and his wife did amazingly later forgive his killer, according to Father.

“Nathan would have wanted everyone here to know something in our bones,” said Father Roberts, according to the The Criterion. “Each one of us here is loved with an infinite, personal and unconditional love by a merciful God. There is nothing that we can do that God will not forgive. We can refuse to accept that mercy, but God will never stop extending it.

“The last lines of the Prayer of Saint Francis capture the Christian mystery that gives us hope today: ‘It is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.’”

6. At another point, Father shared with me that he had been helping a blind and lame Christian minister friend of his to sell his church, move all of this possessions and find a new place to live. A quiet act of kindness that I doubt many knew about, again in the midst of overseeing two parishes himself and in graduate school…

7. And after his death, a woman at our parish shared how Father had prayed over her while she was very sick during pregnancy and she was healed. Afterward, when the baby was born and suffered seizures, he came to visit on Easter Sunday and insisted on baptizing the baby. She was completely healed of her seizures. The woman said, “We believe that God will continue to use Father Roberts from heaven and we will be watching for his miracles.” Amen.

I’m sure this barely scratches the surface.

Father’s Impact on My Life

Prior to Conversion

Although I don’t remember exactly when, I likely first met Father Roberts when attending one of my first masses at St. Alphonsus in December 2011. I begin feeling called to go to mass after many years of stating that I would NEVER be Catholic ;-), despite marrying into a Catholic family, though my husband was not practicing.

Within about a month or two of that first mass, I decided to explore converting to Catholicism (you can read more about my conversion story here). When I reached out to the parish, they told me it was too late to join the group who would become members of the Church on Easter 2012, but I could start classes that fall.

In the meantime, I went to mass every weekend and then started going to daily mass in the summer of 2012. My first real memory of Father is his presiding over those daily masses most days.

His homilies that summer focused on sharing about the saint whose feast day it was. I distinctly remember his homily about St. Benedict and his constant call to daily conversion. I was hooked and started down the path of reading the Rule of St. Benedict.

Even though I wasn’t yet Catholic and couldn’t yet receive Communion, I always got in line to receive a blessing instead (I figured I’d take as many blessings as I could get!). Father later recounted to me that he wondered why I never received communion. If people are in need of confession, they also don’t receive communion, so he couldn’t figure out why I didn’t just go to confession ;-). He learned soon enough!

When my oldest son was preparing to receive First Communion while Father was at our parish (the same fall I was starting RCIA classes to join the Church), he decided to call EVERY family with a child going through First Communion and offer to visit them at their home that fall, answering any questions they had. Amazing! He truly wanted to connect with his parishioners and at one time said he had visited more than 120 homes in one year!

Even though I was very nervous to have a priest in our home (this was all new to me!), I did welcome the opportunity and invited him to come by.

This was my first real encounter with Father, and he now understood why I didn’t receive communion: I wasn’t even Catholic yet!

He kindly blessed our home (and our dog!) and sat down with us to have a chat. When he learned I wasn’t yet Catholic, he invited me to ask any questions. I remember having a long conversation with him about purgatory, as that was a concept I didn’t understand, and he gave me some great book recommendations.

I love to learn and am never afraid to ask questions and apparently he didn’t mind, thank goodness, because over time, he got A LOT of questions from me :).

I was blessed in 2013 to join the Church on Easter, and Father Roberts was one of THREE priests to anoint me with the oil of Confirmation. I will be forever grateful that he confirmed me!

After Conversion

Me after being confirmed in 2013 with my father-in-law, who was my sponsor, and my kiddos

Shortly before I joined the Church, Father posted in the parish newsletter looking for some help to “upgrade” his blog. Around that time, I had started this Catholic Newbie blog to document my journey into the Church and help others converting to Catholicism. I also helped clients maintain their blogs as part of my small business, so I reached out to him to see if I could help.

We sat down that spring and chatted about my blog and his (For Christ and the Church, which he later shut down, unfortunately, as I would enjoy going back and reading some of those posts) and started getting to know one another better and discover some of our shared interests.

Both of us were writers, both were interested in sharing the faith through new media, both loved to read, and turns out, while I was a total newbie compared with him, both were interested in language learning.

He ended up loaning me his Latin language workbook after that meeting, as I endeavored to learn some more Latin.

Later we would learn we both have a love for travel, as he led many pilgrimages and I’m now a travel writer and blogger.

That summer, Father was moved to a new parish, and we didn’t touch base again until I started to do some more writing for national Catholic websites.

I turned to him as an expert source for my articles every year or two, because, well, he certainly was an expert on Catholicism! He would kindly direct me to key Church documents to reference for my articles and give me a quote or two. And here and there he would comment on my blog or link to it and vice versa.

The first piece I ended up writing was on the topic of if priests and bishops should be living in lavish homes, and he provided some insight and his opinion (Father did have strong opinions! :)). I first published it on my blog and then on CatholicStand.com.

Then in 2017, we met in person, and I interviewed him for an article on penance that I wrote for the National Catholic Register. This is one of my favorite articles! In a future post (as this one is already quite long), I will share with you some of his wisdom that did not make it into the article and some other gems of his.

That day, we had a great chat, and it began a series of regular get-togethers where we would discuss the faith, debate it (we disagreed on some things, but both enjoyed the discussion), chat about better ways to propagate the faith among both his parishioners and among RCIA participants (my interest), and, as always, I would ask him a lot of questions, which he so kindly and patiently answered :).

I decided that perhaps God put him in my life so I could learn from him, though I could not imagine what value I provided in return aside from a kindred spirit. This holy, brilliant man who was pastor of TWO parishes, initiating and making the time to meet with me and answer my elementary questions. Incredibly kind and generous.

In the fall of 2019, my mother slipped into dementia seemingly out of the blue (at least to me), and I had to cancel a coffee we had planned. This was a very stressful time, as I had to figure out what was wrong with her and get her into a safe environment (she lived alone about 4 hours from me), and he repeatedly so thoughtfully reached out to check in on me and assure me of his prayers for us both. So comforting!

While this journey with my mother’s dementia has been painful and full of mourning, God was truly with us every step of the way, providing me with solutions at every turn, which I attribute in part to his prayers.

A bit of a prophetic statement he made to me during that time… “All of us either get older or don’t. As I look forward to going through that [dementia] without any family that is close, I find myself thinking that living much past 80 may not be a good goal to set.”

It does seem that many saints die in their 40s…

During the Pandemic

Courtesy St. Alphonsus Liguori Catholic Church

We continued to interact over email and then on Zoom as the pandemic got into full swing. During this time, someone attempted to rob him and then in another incident someone tried to steal his car, as well, leading to concern about his safety.

For me, the period of quarantine early in the pandemic led to a time of internal reflection and quiet and a clearer understanding of where God is leading me in the faith. I felt the call to study theology more deeply and hoped he could help me, directing me what to study, and he did, of course.

I also desired to take a more active role in helping create a more basic approach to Catholicism for those interested in converting to the faith but intimidated by all the things they don’t know or think they need to learn. I had several ideas, including a podcast (now in the works!), and he offered to work with me on these projects.

He is now my patron for these!

Lastly, I had begun to study Italian in the last couple years but never really got serious about it until 2020. I shared with him that I was studying Italian once I felt like I could make an attempt at a conversation, as I knew he could speak Italian fluently.

He quickly decided that we should set up a regular time to “practice” Italian. It would help him, because he didn’t really have the opportunity to use it any longer, while it would help me, because I needed practice “speaking” it.

Again, such a generous gift of time from someone serving as pastor of a parish and finishing his thesis. I hope, at least, it was some fun leisurely time for him.

We had only done one formal Italian “chat” session before his death, though we had another one scheduled the week after he died. I instead used that time to pray a holy hour for him.

When I reflect back upon my time with him, I feel so blessed to have had such a holy person in my life and so sad to have it taken away.

Who will I go to with my theological questions now? Who will practice Italian with me? What priest can I count on to pray for me during my trials here on earth?

Though I feel certain I now have a saint in heaven praying for me, and it doesn’t get much better than that…

At the same time, I can’t help but wonder why God granted me such a gift. Maybe one day I will know.

In Summary

Although I only knew one small side of him, I hope sharing that bit of insight enlightens others as to a better and more complete understanding of who he really was.

I hope that you can see more of the man behind the exterior and all the quiet yet kind, generous, merciful and wonderful things he did under the radar.

Father will be remembered, not just by me, but by his many fellow priests, his many parishioners spread over multiple parishes and of course his family and friends, as a reminder of what it looks like to live the life of a saint. I’m not saying he was perfect, none of us are, but he is certainly a wonderful example of what living the call to holiness looks like.

Requiescat in pace, Father, and please pray for us… One day, we shall meet again!