Billie Joe Armstrong, lead singer of the American rock band, Green Day, wrote a famous song called Wake Me Up When September Ends. It is a lament about his father who died when the boy was only ten. Released in 2005, it was adopted by the citizens of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast after […]
I want to thank all of you for your outpouring of food, clothing, gifts, and gift cards to inner-city residents. Over the past week, you have filled my garage with grocery bags for Saint Therese Little Flower’s food pantry and Saint James’ thrift store to help fellow citizens get through the summer and gain a […]
Many Catholics in Kansas City are surprised to learn that, though there are many Catholic churches west of Troost and several to the north around I-70, Saint Therese Little Flower (STLF) is the only one east of Troost Avenue to the Truman Sports Complex in Independence and from 17th Street (north) to I-435 (south). It […]
A mother of four young children recently reminded me that a primary task of parents is to teach children to get along without them, to succeed on their own, to develop skills so that they can take care of themselves, interact well with others, develop talents, solve problems, and achieve goals. I wonder if the […]
Early in my priesthood, I was privileged to be mentored by Monsignor Arthur Matthew Tighe, longtime pastor of Visitation Parish, site of my first assignment in 1987. Then, like now, there were various discussions and debates among Catholics about how the church should function as a sacramental institution, a hierarchical enterprise, a community of faith […]
I am concerned about maintaining our Catholic presence in Kansas City’s urban core in the future. We have a limited number of priests serving our diocese; the bishop and diocesan leaders must send priests where Catholics live and worship to provide sacraments—there is not a proportionate number of Catholics living or worshipping in our inner […]
