Author Archives: kmwanek

Every July, memories pop up from the Colorado Leadership Retreat, a 10 day Catholic retreat in the mountains that I participated in three times.  And throughout the month, I spend extra time thinking about and reflecting on those experiences and thanking God.  The Colorado Leadership Retreats had a huge impact on my faith.  It wasContinue reading “The Desire to be All In”

In the past few years, several different companies have released a variety of stainless steel water bottles and cups.  As people have gone out to collect the latest brand, I have continued to use my bottle that is over five years old.  It has several dents and scratches, but it still works perfectly, keeping theContinue reading “A Dented Water Bottle”

My grandma is 98 years old and oftentimes, people are amazed not only at her age but at how good of a condition she is in.  At the end of May, we were at her church picnic with her and as different people came over to say hi and ask her how she was doing,Continue reading “Still Here”

Last Thursday at work, I was sitting in the breakroom at work for lunch and there was only one other person in there.  There are over 100 employees who work for the company and there are a few different locations, so there are many people that I don’t know.  The coworker in the breakroom wasContinue reading “An Unexpected Conversation”

Do you ever think about what it was like for the disciples to walk with Jesus, about how amazing and life-changing it would have been?  Today, 2,000 years later, we too are called to walk with Him.  Thinking about our lives as disciples today, we must ask ourselves, are we walking with Jesus?  Yesterday, June 17th, IContinue reading “Walking with Jesus”

Friday night, my brother and I were on a walk and as we were waiting for a car to turn so we could cross the street, something really weird happened.  The guy driving the car, who looked to be in his 30s, rolled down his window, stuck his head out the window, turned to lookContinue reading “Escaping the Noise”

A few days ago, I listened to a podcast episode from a show called “Pints with Aquinas” about how we are living in a post-Christian era and as we go forward, will be entering into an era that is more explicitly post-Christian.  In the over two hour podcast, one thing the host and guest said thatContinue reading “An Emboldened Faith”

A few days ago, the Church celebrated the feast day of St. Philip Neri.  I came across these words from him, “there is nothing the devil fears so much, or so much tries to hinder, as prayer.”  I know I have experienced this reality in my own life.  Prayer itself is simple, but it isContinue reading “Simple but not Easy”

A few weekends ago, the Gospel at mass was John 15:1-8, a passage known as “the vine and the branches” and three days later, the daily gospel was this same passage.   Last week, I was reading a book when I came across a part that reflected on some of the ideas from this scriptureContinue reading “Baskets of Fruit”

This past weekend, the church I am a member of held a meeting after mass to discuss a change that is taking place July 1st.  Throughout Holy Trinity’s history, there hasn’t been a clear designation of what the church is.  While it was most often referred to as a mission church throughout the years, itContinue reading “One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church”