“O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise (Psalm 51:15)”

I speak regularly for professional organizations, parishes, Catholic high schools, and dioceses. I am happy to work with you for your particular event, but some of my typical topics include (but are not limited to) the following:

Catholic Schools (for Faculty or Parents)
– The Marian Charter of Catholic Education
– Empowering Young People for Life’s Decisions (book)
– Forming Saints, Not Just College Applicants (sample)

Parish Missions
– The Parables of the Lost
– The Saints Should Disturb Us (sample)
– Into His Magnificent Light

For Anyone
– The Power of Patience in Modern Life
– Rebuilding Catholic Character
– Your Marriage is Not About You

Workshops or Keynotes for Parishes/Dioceses
– Reviving Communities of Faith with Stories of Grace
– Encounter––Connect––Evangelize
– How the Saints Help Us Love Our Faithful Departed

I did a fair amount of public speaking early in my career while holding children. I don’t have to do that so much anymore, which makes things easier.

Please contact me about your event

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A few of my recorded presentations:

In my most recent Saturdays with the Saints lecture, I speak on the Blessed Mother in Dante’s Divine Comedy.

TED-style talk delivered for OSV Talks, touching on parenting, leadership, and discipleship.

I lecture on "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" for the "Journey Through Narnia" 2019 Lenten lecture series, which I organized and hosted. This series led to a book that I have edited and will soon be released by Ignatius Press.

I contemplate the "Marian Pattern" that captures her ability to hear the Word of God and act on it. This lecture was part of the “Cultures of Formation” conference in anticipation of the 2018 synod of bishops on “Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment.” Visit icl.nd.edu/synod to download digital conference resources.

I talk on the then–newly canonized St. Teresa of Calcutta. This lecture is part of the Saturdays with the Saints lecture series for 2016.

Advent is the season to wait for the Lord. It's a time where we can practice the kind of waiting that should shape our lives. But waiting is difficult, especially in an age of smart phones and instant gratification. St. Joseph is a model for showing what it means to wait for the Lord.

The pressure to become a successful college applicant affects the lives of young people earlier than ever before. Parents start worrying about college and success for their kids are even born. Schools feel the demands to prepare their students as competitive candidates with high test scores and all the right courses. Webinar for Ave Maria Press.

If we are to shape our whole lives as a Christian story, we must first learn how to recognize, craft, and share stories of grace about particular life experiences. Part of Ave Maria Press webinar series.

Going back some years ago, I am here presenting to the Liturgy and Life Symposium, June 22, 2017, sponsored by the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame. This is before I started sporting a beard.

I present on St. Philip Neri, God's Humorist. This lecture on St. Philip Neri is the second lecture in the 2017 Saturdays with the Saints series.

For annual Lenten Lecture series, in 2017 on "The Book of Exodus: A Spiritual Journey"

For the annual Lenten Lecture series, with a special topic in 2016 of "Dante, Mercy, and the Beauty of the Human Person"

This is my first ever “Saturdays with the Saints” lecture.

A briefer talk I gave in a colloquium presented at the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture's 17th Annual Fall Conference, "You Are Beauty: Exploring the Catholic Imagination." I drew on some of my work teaching undergraduate students in a course on “Eschatology in Art.”

When my friend and colleague could not make it, I lectured and facilitated discussion on Tim O’Malley’s book, Bored Again Catholic. Diocese of Orange Book Club in Anaheim, CA. What are friends for?!