Author: C.E. Albanese

C.E. Albanese started his career in law enforcement as a state investigator with the New Jersey Attorney General’s office in 2000, joining the ranks of the Secret Service in 2004 as a special agent. He spent time in the Newark and New York City Field offices, splitting his duties between investigating financial crimes and conducting protective advances for some of the world’s most influential leaders before being transferred to Washington DC. During his tenure with the Secret Service, he was given the opportunity to protect five U.S. Presidents (and two vice presidents), travel the world, and work alongside some of the very best men and woman the United States of America has to offer. He is a graduate of Rutgers University and currently lives in Northern Virginia with his wife, who is a special agent with the Secret Service, and their two children.

Not Called to Blend In, Not Called to Stand Out

“Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary use words.” Fr. Jeb, my parish priest, shared this famous quote (attributed to St. Francis) during his homily at Mass the other day, and it stuck with me. I’d heard this phrase before, but I never bothered pondering its truth. I just took it at […]

When Pain Becomes Promise

I thought I was just going through the motions. Rosary beads warm between my fingers, the Fourth Joyful Mystery I’d contemplated dozens of times before. But sometimes God ambushes us in the ordinary. There I knelt before the shrine at St. Bernadette’s Catholic church, following Jonathan Roumie’s familiar prompt from the Hallow app to enter […]

Finding Joy: A Walk Through the Solar System

For weeks, I’d been wrestling with joy—or rather, with my inability to find it. The Spirit had been nudging me, sometimes gently, sometimes insistently, toward something I couldn’t quite grasp. Embrace joy, I sensed Him saying. But how do you embrace what feels so elusive?

This Biblical Scholar Just Shattered Everything I Thought I Knew About Jesus’s Mother

How one book revealed the Old Testament prophecies about Mary that most Christians completely miss Here’s something that will blow your mind: The Old Testament doesn’t just prophesy about Jesus. It prophesies about His mother too. And not just once or twice. Repeatedly. In ways so clear that once you see them, you’ll wonder how you […]

On Courage and Faith:The Gap Between Believing and Speaking

“If you can’t be brave in front of your friends, how could you ever be brave in front of your enemies?” This question echoed in my mind as I replayed the day’s events. Earlier, while spending time with some friends on a video call, I heard the Lord’s name taken in vain more times than […]