Opening Mass of the Richmond Bicentennial On 11 July 1820, Pope Pius VII chose Fr. Patrick Kelly, president of St. John’s College in Birchfield, County Kilkenny, Ireland to be bishop of the newly… Continue reading →

Epiphany of the Lord I have met people who, upon learning I am a priest, want to talk about God. “Where do I find God? Why are terrible things happening to me? What… Continue reading →

Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph A major highlight of the Christmas season is that people will sometimes make a genuine and intentional effort to get together with those they love, whether… Continue reading →

Nativity of the Lord A child is just a small human that typically attracts attention and curiosity, even fascination, primarily from other small humans like it, but eventually from everyone big and small.… Continue reading →

Third Sunday of Advent The great and glorious festival of heavenly light and joy and reconciliation and healing fast approaches, yet there is a persistent cloud of much sadness and anger and division… Continue reading →

First Sunday of Advent Do you like surprises? I’m sure that just perked some of you up. Now you’re just imagining all sorts of things, aren’t you? Good things? Not-so-good things? It has… Continue reading →

Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe On 4 July 1776 at the Second Continental Congress convened at the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia, the 13 American colonies declared independence from the… Continue reading →

Thanksgiving We live in a time of heightened tension and discord and unease. None of these is likely unique to our present time, but we can probably remember a time when life was… Continue reading →

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time The comic strip Peanuts by Charles Schultz follows the adventures of a group of precocious children and a beagle who have this uncanny ability of reflecting deeply on… Continue reading →

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time Curiosity is a natural instinctive desire to explore, discover, and understand. In its most basic form, it is a measurable sign of intellectual activity, that something might be… Continue reading →