During this season of Lent, we take up the three disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. As concepts, fasting and almsgiving seem less appealing than prayer, but are relatively easy to do. Prayer, on the other hand, is something most people would like to do, but find difficult. For Lent, I’ve been re-reading a bookContinue reading “Confident Abandonment “
Category Archives: Saints
February 14
February 14 is St. Valentine’s Day. But not this year. This year it’s Ash Wednesday, the annual kickoff of the 40-day season of Lent. So, instead of chocolates and candy hearts, romantic dinners by candlelight, or champagne and caviar, this Wednesday we will be observing a fast, which includes abstaining from meat, and wearing ashesContinue reading “February 14 “
St. Paul Mikki
In 1596, less than 50 years after St. Francis Xavier brought Christianity to Japan, the emperor Toyotomi ordered all Christian missionaries arrested. He did not like what he saw as the growing European influence in his empire, and worried that western powers would seek to rule Japan as they did the Philippines. Among those arrestedContinue reading “St. Paul Mikki “
Interesting Conversations
Someone recently shared with me a video of an interesting conversation between Bishop Robert Barron and Fr. Joseph Fessio, SJ. Many of you are probably familiar with Bishop Barron, who has become well-known as the founder of Word on Fire Ministries and for his evangelization work on YouTube and other social media platforms. Fr. FessioContinue reading “Interesting Conversations “
The Temptation of St. Anthony
The temptation of St. Anthony has been the inspiration for some truly bizarre artistic masterpieces by artists of different periods over the centuries. To be clear, the St. Anthony I’m referring to is not the 13th century Franciscan renowned for his preaching and his uncanny ability to help us find our lost car keys andContinue reading “The Temptation of St. Anthony “
Christmas
Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim, Norway is a spiritual writer who understands the nature of the spiritual malady that afflicts our age, a sickness that runs so deep within us that most aren’t even aware we have it. He describes it as despair, as a kind of spiritual sadness. We are sad, he argues, becauseContinue reading “Christmas “
Apostle to the Greeks
Andrew was an unusual name for a first-century Jewish man. That’s because it’s not a Hebrew name but one that comes from the Greek word andros, meaning man. But St. Andrew lived in the region of Galilee, a place where the Greek language and culture was influential. Perhaps it was due to this that hisContinue reading “Apostle to the Greeks “
C’est la Confiance
“It is confidence and nothing but confidence that must lead us to Love.” In his letter, C’est la Confiance, published 10/15/23, Pope Francis commemorates the 150th anniversary of the birth of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. St. Therese, of course, was born in 1873 into an upper-middle class family, entered the Carmelite monastery inContinue reading “C’est la Confiance “
Cardinals
Next Saturday, September 30, Pope Francis will install 21 new members of the College of Cardinals. A Cardinal of the Church is a senior member of the Catholic clergy whose most important responsibility is to elect a new pope when the reigning pontiff dies or resigns. Most Cardinals are bishops, though not all. Popes occasionallyContinue reading “Cardinals “
Blessed Family
In the early morning of March 24, 1944, Nazi police arrived at the farm of Jozef and Wiktoria Ulma in the small town of Markowa, Poland. An informant had notified the police that the Ulmas were hiding Jews in their home, a crime punishable by death. A search of their home revealed eight members ofContinue reading “Blessed Family “
The Parish of St. Cecilia-St. Gabriel 