March Madness hits a high point in the middle of the month as conference basketball champions cut down the nets and punch their ticket to the annual NCAA Tournament.  It’s called The Big Dance because no less than sixty-five teams are invited to the court and among them is always a Cinderella underdog that rises […]

Though rare that Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday are the same, in this twenty-four hour period we are offered a time for lovers and given a mark for the love of God. It’s a day of hearts with a mark of ashes: a perfect time for us to locate where we have progressed on the […]

Ring the bells that still can ring             Forget your perfect offering             There is a crack in everything             That’s how the light gets in Those lyrics from Leonard Cohen’s “Anthem” remind us that we are all flawed.  The cracked Liberty Bell in Philadelphia is a lasting symbol for our nation that we, too, […]

Many people have never been on a retreat but could benefit from one.  I want to suggest that a spring retreat might be as valuable for you as spring break. In the upcoming Lenten Season, March 4-9, our Saint Charles Retreat House is offering a retreat for persons who are very busy and who have […]

Nineteenth Century British poet, William Blake, in his piece, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, wrote: “If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.” Similar words were spoken by Saint John Vianney, a French priest who lived around the same time: “The eyes of the world see […]

Somewhere in my education, I was taught that we should always be both satisfied and dissatisfied with ourselves, i.e., we should be grateful for all that we have experienced and accomplished but, at the same time, acknowledge that we can do better. As one year ends and another begins, we are provided a perfect opportunity […]

Among my favorite characters of the holiday season are George Bailey, Ebenezer Scrooge, and The Grinch of Whoville.  Each of their stories revolves around a spiritual encounter that led to a conversion experience which became a pivotal point in their earthly life. What our church calls conversion, ancient Greeks called metanoia: an about-face, a one-eighty, […]

Advent is a terrific time for Christians to reflect upon our relationship with Jesus and to ponder an important question: Should our relationship with Jesus be more about adoring Him or imitating Him? The Infancy Narratives and Christmas Carols of this season certainly put the emphasis on adoration.  And why not—every baby is worth adoring […]

Black Friday was originally labeled “black” in the 1960s because of the mayhem it caused in large cities with traffic jams and chaos in department stores, as well as minor crimes and accidents that resulted from them.  For retailers, the negative connotations were made positive because it marked the busiest shopping day of the year, […]

As trees shed their leaves to lay a carpet over the earth and autumn’s harvest provides its bounty, children learn about, and reenact, a mystical banquet feast in which Native Americans sat down to share a plentiful meal with Pilgrims who sailed to these shores seeking paradise nearly 400 years ago. One first grader, wearing […]