I suppose that every child views his/her mother as the most beautiful being on this side of eternity.  I was no different.  Hers was the beauty of a maternal god-figure.  Of course, with the passage of time exterior beauty fades.  As my mom gave birth to eleven children and raised us to adulthood while managing […]

Four hundred and fifty years ago, the great reformer, Charles Borromeo, had to face a horrible plague that spread to Milan, where he served as archbishop.  Sometimes known as the Plague of Pestilence, it crippled the economy, devastated the food supply, brought sickness to half the citizens, and killed nearly twenty percent of the population, […]

Most of our Mays are marked by national events from the Kentucky Derby to Indy-500, international events from May Day to Cinco de Mayo, school events from proms to graduations, cultural events from May poles to May baskets, societal events from Mother’s Day to Memorial Day, sporting events from winding down the NBA to revving […]

The drive on 210 Highway from my residence in Kansas City’s northland to the places of my youth winds along the north side of the Missouri River.  Once I pass by Pig’s Landing and Jackass Bend, I know that home is not far away.  The pathway invariably conjures nostalgic thoughts in my brain and spirit.  […]

“Go placidly amid the noise and the haste and remember what peace there may be in silence…”  These words from Max Ehrmann’s Desiderata would be worthy ones to take with us as we slowly and cautiously emerge from our days of confinement this month. Some will emerge twenty-five pounds lighter and in better health; some […]

Perhaps it is simply human nature to look for otherworldly signs to verify that the Lord travels with us along our earthen pilgrimage.  For example, we wonder if the coronavirus isolation ban will be lifted on or near the Feast of Saint Corona (May 14).  We wonder how “quarantine,” deriving from Latin and meaning “forty” […]

During this isolation timespan, my communications team urged me to offer brief daily in-home retreat messages.  After a couple of weeks of airing short videos and spiritual exercise ideas, some viewers asked me to share a summary of my own daily prayer.  Reluctantly, I will.  Yet, I caution you to realize that, while we can […]

Sometimes we enter into passions of our own choosing and sometimes passions we don’t choose enter into us.  As we approach Passion Sunday, we can look back on Lent with the realization that, on many levels, it will not end next week as our liturgical schedule dictates.  COVID-19 has overtaken all calendars of our economy, […]

Soon after coming to Saint Charles, I was encouraged to create a blog to promote spirituality (and events) with some of the people I met during my three decades of priesthood and keep you abreast of how we are progressing through adversities and struggles with your support to revitalize the parish.  All of my previous […]

What are the chances that the Catholic Church would have a saint named Corona and that she happens to be the patron saint of pandemics?  Even stranger, her mortal remains lie in the Basilica of Anzu, in northern Italy, near the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in Europe earlier this year.  Some might rush to […]