Catholic. Pastoral. Trusted.
Each new year begins with plenty of words of wisdom (or warning). We encounter change daily, yet for some reason when we shift into January, we feel the need to admonish ourselves…and others. Example: an online search for “New Year’s advice” produced 154 million results! We’re familiar with eat better,...
Imagine receiving a traffic ticket in the mail for a violation you didn’t commit! That’s what happened to a relative of mine after an overnight hotel stay for a work-related seminar. When the valet at the hotel’s parking garage appropriated her vehicle at 4 am, he unwittingly sped through a...
“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” The words of Jesus in the Gospel of John 15:13 When we attend Mass, Christ lays down his life for us by way of the holy Eucharist. Christ mystically renews his death and sheds his...
Another year is here! I should be happy, but it sometimes feels like Jesus went away when I packed up the Nativity set. All the reminders of his birth are gone, and now the day is dull and gray. I pray but feel nothing. Where is the Lord? Do you...
By now you’ve heard about the Synod of Bishops that Pope Francis convoked on October 10 with a Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. If you haven’t done so already, it’s also likely that this Advent you will participate in a focus group, listening session, or online survey, wrestling...
Writings of long ago make clear why forever friends are so invaluable. After the death of my father, I returned to the city of my youth to sort through accumulated belongings in our old family home. To my surprise, I discovered my high school journal, written when I was between...
Imagine being present during the visit between the Blessed Virgin and her cousin Elizabeth. When Mary’s greeting reached her cousin, the baby in her womb leapt with joy and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. At the visitation, Mary shares the greatest gift of God’s love. “For the first...
During a “girls’ day” shopping trip—as we dug through trinkets and treasures—one of the women expressed her fear of gnomes. I could tell by her reaction to our curiosity that her distress was genuine. What disturbs me the most, she said, is “sometimes you can’t see their eyes!” I learned...
Spectacular apparitions of Mary that occurred nearly a century apart had strikingly similar characteristics—primarily silence and light. They conveyed messages of great import for people at the time and for humanity today. Some readers may recall learning about the second appearances when they took place. They happened a little more...
At an art museum, three patrons gathered in front of a painting of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, executed by an anonymous artist. The first said, “Notice the great attention to detail in the vegetation. The artist must have been a botanist.” The second countered, “Observe how...
I’ve told my oldest daughter, Katelyn, many times, “your sister coming along so soon after you (eleven months) is the best thing that ever happened to you.” I say that because I was so enamored with my first bundle of joy that I dressed her up—even when we were staying...
The Purple Heart is awarded to soldiers, wounded or killed, who have defended the United States against threats and attacks by an enemy in wartime. Originally known as the Badge of Military Merit, George Washington presented the first badges during the Revolutionary War. While never abolished, the awards didn’t officially...
I wrote in September about Maria, a pregnant woman whose fetus was developing abnormally and whose doctors advised she get an abortion. After talking with me at the parish church and a mother I knew whose child had had complications, Maria put her life and that of her unborn baby...
There once was a poor, elderly man who lost his only horse shortly before harvest. His friends commiserated with him about his misfortune, but the old man quietly countered, “How do you know this is misfortune?” Later, the old man’s steed came home, accompanied by a pack of wild horses,...
Sometimes I think of our Blessed Mother’s plea to people to amend their lives. Then I think about the miracle of the sun that occurred in Fatima, Portugal, on October 13, 1917. Could the miracle have been greater? Yet, “a lack of faith can diminish God’s miraculous power,” warns Fr....
At the end of my September column, I said I was “stepping down” from the soapbox from which I opposed vaccine incentives and people who shirk individual responsibility. But I’m back on that soapbox because of news that some states are offering COVID-19 vaccination incentives to help settle court fines....
“Having seen this up close and personal, I’d encourage ALL of you to put politics and other concerns aside and get it,” posted Mark Valentine on Facebook about the COVID-19 vaccine. He added that his brother Phil’s fight for his life “has persuaded me to go get vaccinated when I...
All of us climb on our soapbox to express a viewpoint we feel passionate about. “Responsibility” in all forms—personal, moral, and social—to name a few—gets me on my soapbox. It’s a trait sorely lacking in society today, in my opinion. Case in point, COVID-19 vaccine incentives. I’m not talking about...
The story of a necklace many Catholics wear begins with an apparition of our Blessed Mother to a young nun. Nearly 200 years ago, a young nun named Catherine Labouré experienced an apparition from our Blessed Mother resulting in the casting of medals that have enriched and benefited Catholics worldwide....
Maria sat in the parish office, in tears and inconsolable. A third doctor had just told her that her best option was to abort her baby. Second and third opinions didn’t give her the answer she hoped for and desperately needed to hear. She wanted God’s help. She came to...