Our Blog
We need to ask ourselves what is most important. Lots of things have importance but what is most important? We need things. We need food, clothing, and shelter to feed our physical bodies. To have these things we need money.…
Read MoreIn today’s reading for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B we hear three different ways of thinking about discipleship. The first comes from the third of four servant servant oracles in the Book of Isaiah. The suffering servant…
Read MoreIf it is worth doing, it is worth doing well. I am referring to our celebration of the Mass. It is certainly worth doing! The Eucharist is the source and summit of our Catholic faith (Lumen Gentium, 11). We know…
Read MoreOne of our parish deacons is preaching this weekend so I have not prepared a homily for this Sunday (22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B). Even when I am not preaching I still like to spend some time in…
Read MoreI have not written much on the Coronavirus in recent months (You can see past articles by clicking here). There are two reasons for this. The first is that I didn’t have anything new to say about it. The second…
Read More21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year BJoshua 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18bPsalm 34:2-3, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21 (9a)Ephesians 5:21-32John 6:60-69August 22, 2021 Today we come to the conclusion of Jesus’ Bread of Life Discourse. Many people had been there when Jesus fed the…
Read MoreEarlier this week I wrote an article, “Is Faith a Matter of Opinion?”, based on F.X. Cronin’s book, The World According to God (Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute Press. 2020). That article reflected on the first fifty pages. Today I would like…
Read MoreIs what one chooses to believe merely a matter of personal preference? Does God exist? These are two of the key questions F.X. Cronin discusses in his new book, The World According to God (Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute Press. 2020).…
Read MoreThe Assumption of the Blessed Virgin MaryRevelation 11:19a, 12:1-6a, 10abPsalm 45:10, 11, 12, 16 (10bc)1 Corinthians 15:20-27Luke 1:39-56August 15, 2021 Normally we would be celebrating the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time of Year B today. Instead, we are celebrating the…
Read MoreAs I continue in my new assignment, I continue to reflect on what it means to be a good leader. (What I offer today overlaps with some of what I have written before on leadership.) A good leader does not…
Read MoreOn this 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time of Year B, we hear of the time when Elijah was on a journey and “prayed for death.” This comes shortly after Elijah defeated the 450 prophets of Baal (See 1 Kings 18).…
Read MoreOne of the things I like to write about here is current events in the news. At times I have also considered starting a discussion group about current events. I believe it is important to reflect on what is going…
Read More18th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year BPsalm 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54 (24b)Ephesians 4:17, 20-24John 6:24-35August 1, 2021 “The whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.” Why? Because they had no food. Now, we need food to eat. That is…
Read MoreIn my last article, “Marriage and Society”, I began reflecting on Scott Hahn’s book, The First Society: The Sacrament of Matrimony and the Restoration of the Social Order (Steubenville, OH: Emmaus Road Publishing. 2018). Today, I would like to conclude my thoughts…
Read MoreIn his book, The First Society: The Sacrament of Matrimony and the Restoration of the Social Order (Steubenville, OH: Emmaus Road Publishing. 2018), Scott Hahn discusses marriage as foundational to a strong society. In the introduction he says, “There is…
Read MoreIn today’s first reading (17th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – 2 Kings 4:42-44) we hear the story of what I will call a “small” miracle. The event happens in a time of drought. So, water is scarce. That…
Read MoreEarlier this week I posted an article, “Peter J. Kreefts “How to Destroy Western Civilization”, sharing some thoughts from Kreeft’s new book, How to Destroy Western Civilization and Other Ideas From the Cultural Abyss (San Francisco: Ignatius Press. 2021). In that…
Read MoreI recently read Peter J. Kreeft’s new book, How to Destroy Western Civilization and Other Ideas From the Cultural Abyss (San Francisco: Ignatius Press. 2021). From the title alone one might think it is a “how-to” book giving ideas on…
Read More16th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year BJeremiah 23:1-6Psalm 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6 (1)Ephesians 2:13-18Mark 6:30-34July 18, 2021 Jeremiah served as a prophet of the Lord in the time leading up to and including the start of the Babylonian Exile. God…
Read MoreSince I haven’t posted anything on my blog since Sunday, I thought those of you who are regular readers might be wondering if I am too busy in my new assignment to have time to write. I do find myself…
Read MoreAs I settle into a new rectory, I look to shape the space in which I will pray. This rectory has enough rooms that I am able to dedicate a whole room to prayer and God. Many people may not…
Read MoreI am now seven days into my new assignment at St. Mary’s of the Lake and St. Benedict’s. In my first article (“From an End to a Beginning”) after the move, I wrote about the people I was meeting and…
Read More