Pastor

We have a real treasury of Catholic prayers which keep our spiritual life anchored and structured: the Lord’s Prayer; the Hail Mary; Acts of Faith, Hope, and Love; and more. But it is also important to pray with Scriptures and engage the imagination. One of the best ways to do that is to put ourselves

As we enter into this Holy Week this Palm Sunday, I wanted to share with you some reflections on the key days of the liturgical events that we celebrate this week because the mysteries they encompass are the root of our whole life in Christ. The first concerns Good Friday – the pivotal moment of

We are entering into the season of Passiontide – the “home stretch” of the Lenten season that includes the last full week of Lent leading into Palm Sunday and the Holy Week it begins. The stark visual reminder of this season is the traditional practice of covering all of the statues and images in the

I have been emphasizing throughout Lent that the spiritual discipline necessary to conform our hearts to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ is something of a “three-legged stool.” That is, just as you can’t sit on a stool with only one or two legs but need all three legs to balance, you can’t have a

The events of recent weeks in my life have been a powerful wake-up call and reminder for me to write about preparation for an unexpected death. After a year-long battle with cancer, I lost a dear friend I have known for over 25 years, way back to the time I was still praying about whether

In today’s Gospel we read St. Luke’s account of the Transfiguration of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who reveals just a glimpse of His glory for an instant to His three “right-hand men” – the most privileged of His Apostles, Peter, James & John. Three of the Gospel writers record this event. St. Luke has the

The first Sunday of Lent always begins with the famous passage of the Lord’s temptation by Satan in the desert. That’s the one where the Devil tells the Lord to turn stone into bread after he has been fasting for 40 days. The story takes a lot of unpacking – and some Bible study –

As we begin the season of Lent, we mark its beginning on Ash Wednesday with the visible outward sign of ashes imposed on the head. We also mark it as just one of two days during the year (both in Lent) where all adults from the ages of 18-58 (inclusive) are required to fast. That

February is of course the shortest month but no less packed with important saints on the calendar. We recently celebrated the feast of Ss. Cyril and Methodius (Feb. 14). These 9th century saints were biological brothers and also brothers in their respective monastic communities. The two great missionaries had a profound influence on bringing Christianity

There is certainly a lot going on this weekend. The Cincinnati Bengals are in the Super Bowl for the first time in over a generation, many couples are celebrating Valentine’s Day early, and a lot of folks are catching up after digging out from last weekend’s ice storm. Maybe more to say about those later.