By Jack Rigert, Director of John Paul II Renewal Center
Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love.…
Category Archives: Articles
Praying with Temptations
By Father Ryan Browning
There are temptations that assail me all of the time; I feel like giving up. I’m never going to escape their grip. Have you ever had thoughts such as these as you try to live out the faith?…
Love Is… God’s plan for love, sex, marriage and the family
UPCOMING EVENTS! Please join us!
Father Kyle Manno and Jack Rigert, Director of the John Paul ll Renewal Center, Tuesday, November 14th from 7 to 8:30 PM at St. Katharine Drexel Catholic Church at 8S055 Dugan Road, Sugar Grove, Illinois!
Father Ryan Browning and Jack Rigert, Director of the John Paul ll Renewal Center, Wednesday, November 15th from 7 to 8:30 PM at St.…
How Do I know if it is really Love?!… and the Virtue of Chastity
By: Jack Rigert, Director of John Paul II Renewal Center
Both of my Grandfathers, one Swiss and one Danish, as well as my Dad and Mom were Professional Chefs, and as a young man, I followed in their footsteps. For me, designing, building and operating Restaurants was in my blood, and I was pretty good at it.…
Love Is?! Part 1
The morning session had gone well, the first of four the JPll Renewal Center was scheduled to give at an all-day retreat for a Catholic High School. As I headed down the hallway to a small-group break out room with a dozen sixteen year old boys I made small talk by asking them if they had one memory that stood out thus far in High School.…
The Kids Are Not All Right
More than 36 percent of teenaged girls in America are depressed or have suffered a recent major depressive episode, according to a study published in Translational Psychiatry. For boys, the rate is 13.6 percent. What are we doing to the kids?…
“13 Reasons Why” We Should Be Learning, Living and Sharing John Paul II’s Theology of the Body
When I first heard about Netflix’s controversial new show 13 Reasons Why, the charge that it glorified suicide and encouraged copycat behavior was enough for me not to want to watch it. Then my brother, whose judgment I trust, urged me to watch it because of how insightfully it portrayed the lives of most modern teenagers.…
Lenten Intentions
Ash Wednesday came and went and thus began the liturgical season of Lent. Every year I see people create short term, personal goals for themselves during Lent. Similar to New Years except these goals are only for 40 days and should focus on improving your relationship with God.…
He Created Them Male and Female and Blessed Them
“Man and woman were made ‘for each other’ … He created them to be a communion of persons, in which each can be ‘helpmate’ to the other, for they are equal as persons and complementary as masculine and feminine.” (CCC 372)
Pope Francis recently made a few remarks about women in which he tried to describe the phenomena that I observed over and again when I was a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.
…Rick Warren on Sex and Marriage
Famous evangelical pastor Rick Warren spoke at a conference at the Vatican on sexual complementarity last November. I recently came across this interview he did from Rome with Raymond Arroyo on EWTN.
I’m delighted with Rick Warren’s willingness to build bridges with the Catholic Church. …
