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Growing up, who or what inspired you the most to be a leader? “My mother and my Easy-Bake-Oven,” was not the answer we were expecting from Major General Julie A. Bentz, Vice Director of the Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Agency (Yep- that’s the person responsible for keeping us safe. Her specific job is to keep foreign nuclear-weapons from being detonated on US soil. Gulp.) I heard her speak at the ALPHA Leadership Breakfast* along with many other luminaries in their fields;

“That is sooo First Century!” Not a comment you hear everyday… I would be willing to bet that the lives of the men and women in the Bible have a great deal more in common with our lives than you would expect. Each of them dealt with real problems, real pain, real fears, stress, worries about jobs, kids, family, aging parents, the death of a spouse, and a culture creeping in on their religious identity… sound at all familiar? As Catholics, we believe we are in a mystical way c

Are you feeling crushed under the weight of your cross? Like you don’t know if you can withstand the pressure of all that you have been asked to do? Have you stumbled? Fallen? Maybe more than once? You are not alone. Jesus too, the very human Jesus, knows your story, feels your pain, relates to your stress, is heartbroken with you in your loneliness, rejoices with you in your joys and even blushes with you in your shame and anger. God is mindful of all --and praises be to Him

Where were you? I remember so clearly. I had just walked into Starbucks with a friend when a second friend came in wild-eyed, telling us that a plane had just struck the twin towers in New York City. As we were ordering our coffee, the second plane struck. Then, just a short while later, we were told that WE were under attack. I can recall running to my car, an old Ford Bronco with no roof, wishing I had something with a bit more coverage--the top had been permanently removed

In a movie released in the early 2000s, the three main characters are eternally stuck, forever unable to move forward from the moment their parents get divorced. The children grow up, but not really. This is portrayed in the film by the fact that, day after day, year after year, they wear the exact same clothes as they had on the day that the fateful news of the break-up was delivered. They are forever frozen in time, crippled by this event, until they can face their fears a