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Today we celebrate the death of Jesus Christ. Yes, we celebrate his death. We celebrate it because Jesus’ death pays the price for our sins and wins for us our redemption. It is also a sign for us of God’s…
Read MoreThe readings for the Mass of the Lord’s Supper celebrated in the evening on Holy Thursday are very appropriate to the occasion. The first reading (Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14) recalls the original Passover event when God lead the Israelites out of Egypt by the…
Read MoreIn years past the priests and the nuns did most of the work in our parishes. Now, most parishes have lay staff members who are married with families of their own and we could not do all the ministry we…
Read MoreSloth, in a sense, is laziness but it is not plain laziness. Catholic Reference Net defines sloth as Sluggishness of soul or boredom because of the exertion necessary for the performance of a good work. The good work may be…
Read MoreI want to let you know I have been received a significant number of spam comments to this blog. Of course, I have not allowed those comments to be posted. Some of the comments have been written beginning with “thanking me” for the…
Read MoreWe continue with our discussion of the Seven Deadly Sins. Today we look at lust. Lust and love are two different things. When we love someone we care about their needs. We do what we can to help them because…
Read MoreDuring this season of Lent, I have been leading a Bible Study in the parish. We meet after the last Mass on Sunday for about an hour and fifteen minutes to discuss the Sunday readings. We have only averaged about five…
Read MoreContinuing our look at the Seven Deadly Sins, I turn to greed and envy. I put these two together because they both seek to have things we do not have. Greed is to seek what we do not have. It is…
Read MoreThere has been a massive earthquake in Chile. IT IS 8.8 on the Richter scale with at least 23 aftershocks. The epicenter of the earthquake is 56 miles northeast of the city of Concepcion. The death toll is at 85…
Read MoreWe don’t talk much about sin anymore. The pendulum swung from frequent Confession to occasion, or never, going to the sacrament. However, sin has not gone away. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines sin as Sin is an offense…
Read MoreOne of the common practices associated with Lent is fasting. The readings of the Friday after Ash Wednesday speak of fasting. The disciples of John come to Jesus and ask why his disciples were not fasting. He replies that the…
Read MoreThe Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is not a well-understood sacrament. Many people who grew up prior to the Second Vatican Council still understand it as “Last Rights.” Understood as “Last Rights” one would only call for the…
Read MoreThis morning I received an action alert from the NYS Catholic Conference. This conference works as the public policy arm of the Catholic Bishops in New York State. This action alert was about funding for mandated programs in Catholic/private schools. …
Read MoreI just finished reading the book I mentioned before The Future Church by John Allen, Jr. His concluding chapter includes some discussion of how change happens in the church. Is the Church slow to change? Yes; as Allen writes The…
Read MoreI have been reading a book by John Allen, Jr. called The Future Church (2009 Doubleday Press) in which he talks about issues that the Church faces in the 21st century. Today I was reading the chapter on Pentecostalism. One…
Read MoreQuality or Quantity, which do you seek? Quality or Quantity of what? I’m talking about prayer. Today I was reading an article written to priests talking about people who confess their prayer life isn’t what should it should be. How…
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