Today is Halloween — and, as you may have noticed, many of our Evangelical friends now shun America’s October spook festival altogether. They tell their children that Halloween is “the devil’s holiday” and that trick-or-treating is little better than dabbling with…

One of the first things to come to mind when reflecting on this week’s Gospel reading is the book entitled, The Five People You Meet in Heaven. I have not read it, so I am not sure what it says.…

People seem to like it when Our Lord says things like, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone,” or, “Judge not.” It seems they are taken to mean Catholics have no business speaking out against sin and…

God has a rather funny way of showing us that a little can go a long way.

A few days before writing this, I was eating dinner with some parishioners and discussing last-minute details regarding World Youth Day. I left early…

There has been at least one occasion in my life when I successfully played the matchmaker. A few years before I was ordained, I introduced one of my housemates to a girl I knew from college. They went on to…

Pixar Animation Studio was founded in the 1980s by media moguls George Lucas and Steve Jobs, but whether they knew it or not, the guys who made their latest film release WALL*E (in theatres tomorrow) were working for God. So says…

“Anyone appointed to be a watchman for the people must stand on a height for all his life to help them by his foresight.
“How hard it is for me to say this, for by these very words I denounce myself.…

When we think of Pentecost, what immediately comes to mind?

Hopefully we think of the event recalled in this Sunday’s first reading. The Apostles, along with Mary, the mother of Jesus, are gathered in the Upper Room. The Scriptures tell us…

One of the great treasures of the Catholic Church is the liturgical year. Just as times and seasons change in nature and we have an opportunity to witness the cycle of life, death and re-birth in the world around us, if we celebrate each liturgical season properly, we have an opportunity to reflect on the life, death and resurrection of Our Savior.

In Advent, we recall the time of anxious waiting for the coming of the Messiah and the fulfillment of the promise of redemption. At Christmas, we celebrate Christ's birth. In Ordinary Time, we recall His public ministry. In Holy Week, we recall His passion and death. At Easter, we celebrate the resurrection.

It was not all that long ago that we were celebrating the birth of Jesus. The lights and decorations in the malls and in our homes, the Christmas carols and cards depicting scenes of the Holy Family all give the…