“I love you, Daddy-O,” my 19-year-old daughter said to me as she hugged me goodbye. She then climbed into her car to drive the five hundred miles to the Naval Air Base that would be her home for the next six months. She had been home on leave for about ten days, and we had […]
One evening, I was leaving a meeting at my parish, and was pulling out of my parking space, when I stopped dead in my tracks. I had just realized that I walked out of the church and forgot to make a visit to Jesus. In every Catholic Church around the world, Jesus, in the form […]
I was sitting in my seat (right-hand, aisle, thank you very much!), engrossed in my magazine, when I heard a man say in a rather loud voice, “Excuse me, Ma’am!” Startled, I looked up to see a very overweight man in the seat one row up trying to flag down the flight attendant. When she […]
I don’t think there has ever been a more public display of human suffering than the Passion of our Lord. His suffering was not limited to one particular place, witnessed by a few. His suffering was through the streets of Jerusalem with thousands witnessing the entire grueling ordeal. In the midst of that suffering, Simon of […]
We all know someone who we would consider a fanatic. Someone who is consumed with a sports team, or a particular brand of car, or shoes, or clothes, or making money. Whatever their infatuation, it defines them. They are known by it. They are the Red Sox freak, or the Mercedes guy, or the Prada […]
During a recent all-day workshop, I had repeated often my view that if one had to go through a divorce, it was a blessing to be Catholic. My point was that our Catholic faith offers so much hope and healing, particularly through the Sacraments, that to have to go through a divorce without them makes the […]
Recently, I was on a flight to New York. I was sitting in an aisle seat. The middle seat was empty, and a young woman was sitting in the window seat. She caught my attention because she was what I would call “edgy.” She was dressed very flashy, had a purple streak dyed into her […]
I remember as a kid, my brother and I went rafting down a river by our house. We played this game where we would take turns going down this particular stretch of rapids in a raft. I would jump in the water, grab the rope, and navigate the raft through the rapids while my brother […]
I go on a three-day, silent retreat each year. It is a very intense spiritual time, filled with much prayer and reflection. It never fails to refresh and renew my spirit and draw me closer to our amazing God. On one particular retreat, most of my thoughts and inspirations were centered on my children; it […]
When I looked down the hall, all I could see was a long line of people. Most of them looked rather apprehensive, some shuffled nervously from one foot to the other. These people were waiting in line to go to reconciliation during one of our Divorced Catholic Conferences. We always offer reconciliation during the conference, […]