“For the first time in five years, there is an increase in the total number of priests in the world,” Vatican News today “The total reached 407,421, up 425 from the previous year. Growth in Africa (+1,676), Asia (+1,065), and the Americas (+199) outweighed declines in Europe (-2,483) and Oceania (-32)” Europe here we come

From today's Gospel: "Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God." Your heart belongs to God. Give it back to Him. Always so powerful 🙏

Night 1 of our Hallow Summit, and it has been incredible. So undeserving to work alongside all these folks

Hey y’all - took a break from x over the summer but picking back up now. Glad to be back. Have some exciting stuff coming up I can’t wait to share. God is good

Really incredible to see what’s going on across dioceses in the US this Easter. The Lord is truly at work, bringing so many back to Him and to experience His love right now. As we see firsthand at Hallow the impact of what so many priests, sisters, Church leaders, and more are doing across parishes in the US, it’s beautiful to see the fruits of their labor and the ways folks are reaching for the Lord. It’s been our mission from the beginning to introduce folks to the love the Lord has for them and lead them into a better relationship with Him through His bride, the Church - an honor to get to partner with so many parishes, schools, and dioceses that are doing just that. hallow.com/blog/catholic-chu…

Sorry y’all - have been trying to take a step back to spend some time with family post the craziness of the Ash Wednesday launch. Apparently over the last few days we’ve been attacked for a series of different things. So I wanted to take a moment and respond. I’m usually not very good at these kinds of things, but will give it my best. Before I do though I just wanted to say thank you. I’ve seen so many posts and replies defending Hallow and sharing what the Lord has done in your life. Honestly it’s brought me to tears several times. Thank you all. It means more than you know. Lord thank You for the opportunity to work on this - to be a witness to your goodness. Okay so the first and biggest one, interestingly enough, is folks attacking partners, mostly Gwen it seems, for partnering with an ‘anti-abortion’ app. - Yes, we are pro-life. At least we are trying our best to be. We are catholic. On every political issue we stand with the Pope and the Church. Then there is the usual group of people mad that we have a subscription option for Hallow. - There is a free version with thousands of free sessions and we give free subscriptions to anyone who reaches out and can’t afford it. Most people who use the app use it completely for free - forever. We do not sell ads or data. The subscription is how we support the work we do. We’ve got some folks upset that we are going through Dostoevsky for Lent. - For those of you concerned, please just give the challenge a try. I think the team did a really great job, working with several great priests, of weaving together Fr. Henri Nouwen, the spiritual message of Brothers K, and Scripture in a really beautiful way that’s all, of course, always in line with Church teaching. And then the latest seems to be a resurfacing of the fact that Peter Thiel is an investor. - Thiel is one of several hundred different individual investors in Hallow, each with their own politics and other businesses / investments. We are grateful for anyone who was willing to take a bet on Hallow, especially in the earliest days when essentially everyone said no, but we certainly don’t stand behind or endorse everything every investor does. We do not and would never share any user data with any investor. Thiel specifically is one of the most prolific technology investors of all time (Facebook / Instagram, PayPal, Apple, LinkedIn, Yelp, Microsoft, Tesla, Spotify, The Athletic, Stripe, Airbnb, Postmates, SpaceX), but just because he owns a share of a company certainly does not mean he has any control over its actions. Thiel is a relatively minor investor (~3% of Hallow’s overall funding). I’ve seen some people say he invested $40 million - this is off by an order of magnitude. He does not sit on our board, and has no decision making control. The three co-founders of Hallow have governance control of Hallow. If there is ever anything you disagree with, there is never anyone else to blame but me. Okay, I think that’s all. Tried to do my best to hit on the biggest points, but I’m sure I missed some. I’d ask, if you would, for your prayers. May the Lord use all of this only for His good. May He take this app, and everything we do, and use it only to share the incredible love He has for you. Lord, helps us to make everything we do only ever in the service of that. Lord, help me to thank You for the rebukes and for the criticism. May all things give You Glory. Empty me, fill me, use me.

Pope Benedict for the win

TOP 3!!! Five guys done. Now for the ultimate battle. Jesus v AI

You are dust, and to dust you shall return

GOD IS GREAT!!! TOP 10!! The only faith based app in history. 🙏🙏🙏 GLORY TO THE LORD

Our team put a lot of work into this year’s script trying to make @JonathanRoumie cry. It’s our test to see if it’s going to be a good challenge. But it wasn’t our words that got to him this year. Instead, the Lord’s. The Parable of the Prodigal Son from the Gospel of Luke. - But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’  But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ - No matter how lost you are. No matter how far off. Come home this Lent. He’s waiting for you.