A friend of mine who is an older gentleman and lifelong Catholic tells me that in the past decade he has experienced a renewal in his faith. For most of his life he lived his Catholic faith as a series of rules to be followed, as if it were principally a moral code (with the emphasis being on negative commands). After he got involved in a program called...

We’ve just celebrated nine (yes, nine) sacramental Masses for children and teens over the past two weeks. All told, about three hundred children received sacraments, which is about ten percent of our weekly Sunday Mass count. We pray that these children continue in the practice of the faith, especially the celebration of Sunday Mass. One of the reasons that Sunday Mass is so important is that it reminds us that the goal of life is heaven. If Sunday becomes just a day of rest,

The United States is preparing to celebrate its 250 anniversary on July 4, 2026. In recognition of this milestone, the bishops of the United States will consecrate the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 11, 2026, which is the day before the Feast of the Sacred Heart. The bishops have suggested various ways that...

“The Lord led him outside and told him, ‘Look into the heavens and count the stars, if you can count them. Such will your descendents be.’ Abraham believed the Lord, who credited it to him as righteousness” (Gen 15:5-6). God promised, and Abraham put his faith in God. God’s covenant with Abraham is...

The painting of the third covenant, with Noah, is now hanging in the parish hall below the church. “God said to Noah and to his sons with him, ‘I will establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood.’ God added...

God saves us through covenants. A covenant is a relationship. It is a relationship of reciprocal belonging. It is a relationship of mutual love and sacrifice. Covenants have conditions in order to maintain the unity of the relationship. Covenants have...

He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Jesus’ resurrection from the dead transforms everything, and fills all creation with a new light and grace. It is as if a new dimension were opened up in time and space. As Christians, we are called to...

St. John the Evangelist introduces his account of Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection with the statement, “[Jesus], having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (Jn. 13:1). That statement sums up what this most holy of weeks is all about: the manifestation of how far God is willing to go to save us because...

Last Sunday, the disciples asked Jesus who it was that sinned that caused the blind man to be born that way. They held the false notion that someone born with a handicap of some sort was suffering the punishment of sin, whether their own or their parents’. Jesus responded, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him.” This Sunday, a similar dynamic emerges: In their distress, Mary and Martha turn to Jesus for help becau

God saves us through covenants. A covenant is a relationship. It is a relationship in which persons belong fully to one another. It is a relationship of mutual love and freedom. Covenants have conditions in order to maintain the unity of the relationship. Covenants have consequences if the relationship is betrayed. God used covenants to...

In this Sunday’s first reading, the people that Moses has led out of Egypt complain of their condition, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt?” This same grievance flares up on various occasions throughout the Exodus. In their frustration, they...

The first readings on Sundays in Lent cover the great covenants God has made with his people throughout history. This Sunday’s first reading recounts the covenant that God made with Abraham. God promised to give him a land, to make of him a great nation, and to make his name a blessing. On that theme...

I must admit, I haven’t watched much of the Winter Olympics. I’m more of a World Cup fan, myself— coming to the U.S. this summer! One of the things that does impress me, though, about Olympians is their training regimen. I can’t imagine the...

I remember a friend of mine in the seminary showing me his list of things that he was going to try to tackle in Lent. It was long and demanding. I remember being impressed but also somewhat dubious. Usually to make one change in our life is hard enough, but...

Jesus calls his disciples in this Sunday’s gospel to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Salt was used as a preservative in the time of Jesus, since refrigeration didn’t exist. It kept food from rotting. So Christians are to preserve society to keep it from the corruption that is the result of sin. Jesus warns his disciples, though...

I hope that everyone is coming out on the other side of this snow/ice storm without any major issues. Now it’s the frigid cold we deal with, hoping that we don’t have another storm on top of it this weekend! This weekend, we begin the promotion of the Annual Archdiocesan Appeal. Once a year, our Archbishop reaches out to his flock to ask for their financial support for the educational and charitable works of our local church. As a Catholic parish, we know...

In this Sunday’s second reading, St. Paul calls the Church in Corinth to unity: “that you be united in the same mind and in the same purpose.” He saw the encroaching danger of division and factionalism. Indeed, the word “devil” means divider. Satan’s desire is to sow division in marriages, families and in society at all levels. How quickly when an event happens on a cultural level that we retreat to our ideological camps for safety! On the other hand, the...

In this Sunday’s second reading St. Paul writes, “to the church of God that is in Corinth, to you who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy . . .” He reminds the faithful of Corinth that they are called to be holy, but what does that mean? In Scriptural terms, to be holy means to be set apart for a sacred function. An altar, a chalice, priestly vestments, the tabernacle are all holy because they are set aside for the worship of God. They aren’t to be used f

Happy Feast of the Baptism of the Lord! A couple months after I was ordained a priest, my mom called me and with excitement in her voice asked, “Dave do you remember the day of your baptism?” “Of course not,” I responded. “I was a baby!” “Well,” my mom said, “you were baptized on June 19 , 1983!” My parents kept a Bible that had a section in it where you could record the sacraments of your children. As she was filling in my priesthood ordination date—June 19 , 2010—she notic

Happy New Year and Happy Feast of the Epiphany! It is appropriate that we celebrate the Epiphany as we enter into 2026. Flipping the calendar year marks a fresh beginning. Just as the Magi set off on a journey, so we commence our spiritual pilgrimage of 2026 led by...