One of my favorite pastimes associated with baseball is hotdogging during practice. At all levels of baseball, players do immensely stupid things during practice that they would never dare try in an actual game. Catching pop-ups behind one’s back, fancy (but incredibly risky) glove tricks, you name it. I remember repeatedly trying to roll throws from teammates off the back of my glove to try to get a quicker release. It’s something that middle infielders might occasionally use, but it was a completely useless skill for me. My coach caught me doing it and warned me that if I did it again I was going to be running. Out of force of habit, I tried once more, and the number of laps I took that day still haunts me. It was a valuable lesson that I had to learn about practicing like you’re supposed to play. If you wouldn’t try it in a game, don’t do it in practice, or at least not during official practice. It’s a time to get better, not a time to form bad habits that can hurt the team. Click title for full column.

The quarantine-driven stripping down of my usual activities has illuminated several things for me. It has shown me, and I suspect many others, what is truly valuable in life. It has shown many what they can do without. On the less impactful side, it has shown a few how many pushups they can do, and considerably more just how long they can go without showering. In ways both positive and negative, people are learning about their priorities and inclinations. Click title for full column.

Christ is risen, He is truly risen! Happy Easter, and God bless you all. I’ve always enjoyed looking back over Lent to see what fruit our sacrifices have born; it’s an experience of hope and renewal for the future, knowing that Our Lord will continue the good work that He has begun in us. This year has been a Lent unlike any other, and in many ways, even though we can now celebrate with the Risen Lord, we are still awaiting the fulness of joy that is celebrating with others and with our entire family. Click title for full column.

One of the phenomena I have observed during the drastically increasing amount of time I spend indoors with my housemates nowadays is the way in which each of us prefers to give and receive love. Personally, given my druthers, I would prefer to just completely isolate and wall myself off from the love and affection of everyone, but apparently that’s a no-go, so instead I’ve been seeing up close the way that people care for one another. Fr. Roush seems to be big on quality time. Fr. Feist uses words of affirmation often enough to make me prickly and defensive. I am doubling down on acts of service like resetting the chapel for Fr. Roush for his private Mass. All the while we watch for signs of cabin fever and the slow creep of insanity. With that as the backdrop of my day to day life, I have been reflecting on the meaning of love, especially loving our family and friends in moments of difficulty. Click title for full column.