Each year as summer gets underway, Catholics transition through a series of feasts honoring the Body and Blood of Christ, our Blessed Mother, His Sacred Heart, her Immaculate Heart, the Holy Spirit, and Holy Trinity.  I hope that these mysteries prompt us to ponder our faith a little more deeply. On the Feast of the […]

Earlier this century, some of the wording of the Catholic Mass in English-speaking lands was changed—or changed back—and worshipers adjusted rather smoothly.  Most notable is our response to “The Lord be with you.”  To say “And with your spirit” rather than “And also with you” aligns English-speakers with the older Latin version, “Et cum spiritu […]

Bishop Robert Barron of Los Angeles recently wrote a Letter to a Suffering Church.  Though written like letters from Saint Paul and other patriarchs in the fledgling church, or papal letters through the centuries, it holds no official value; he writes simply as a bishop who wants to express compassion to fellow church members agonizing […]

I was ordained to the priesthood in June, thirty-two years ago, on the Feast of Saint Anthony, patron of what is lost.  During this time, the church has changed; I have changed; the ways people view Catholic priesthood have changed.  Some of the changes are cataclysmic.  Much has been lost.  Yet Saint Anthony reminds me […]

It seems to me that in one of about every ten confessions people touch the heart of key issues in their union with God and leave the confessional determined to change detrimental attitudes and patterns in their lives.  In the other encounters, penitents basically present a laundry list of behaviors that are merely symptomatic of […]

In Jesus’ time, wooden yokes got placed upon oxen to plow fields.  First, however, the ox was taken to a local carpenter to be fitted.  If not, these notoriously harmful contraptions could pinch nerves and severely damage the animals—even kill them.  According to a legend, Jesus-the-carpenter created the best ox-yokes in all of Galilee and […]

According to Ignatian Spirituality, our singular goal in life is to be with God.  It is our first principle and foundation.  According to this guidance system, we should utilize all that we encounter in this world in ways that move us toward that goal.  Of course, we also encounter many distractions that divert us along […]

There was once a man who seemed to have it all.  He came from a good family, married a lovely wife, had tremendous children, maintained a good job, owned a nice house in a lively neighborhood, and had lots of friends.  But he also abused alcohol.  It got so bad that he lost his job […]

Pope Paul VI once stated: “The world of our time is searching, sometimes with anguish and sometimes with hope, to receive Christ’s Good News.  But it will not be received from those who appear dejected, discouraged, or anxious.  True evangelizers are those who glow with fervor, who embrace the joy of Christ, and who are […]

A story is told about an old man resting under a huge oak tree with his young grandson.  The grandfather picks up an acorn and hands it to the boy, telling him that the massive tree was once that very size.  The boy, looking up at the tree and down at the acorn, then asks: […]