First Sunday of Advent I traveled to Virginia Beach this week for Thanksgiving to see my parents and family. It was quite a pleasant gathering at my sister’s house. All the important people were there. All the basic food groups were represented. And a reasonable number of the members of the first group mingled with […]

Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe As Americans, we harbor strange attitudes toward the concept of monarchy. Our nation is founded on principles declaring all persons to be created equal, possessing the same basic rights, and that we get to choose how and by whom we will be governed. Yet we […]

Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time I was a high school teacher in New Orleans ages ago and as faculty moderator of S.A.D.D., Students Against Drunk Driving, I had to pledge to abstain from alcohol. I don’t remember if it was at all times from that moment on or just to not get behind the wheel […]

Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time I have in the past been invited to the hospital after the birth of a child. And don’t feel bad if you’ve never invited your priest to meet your baby at the hospital. Let’s face it, it’s another hospital visit entirely that most comes to mind. But we have this […]

Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time When I was in the second grade, my family spent a Sunday afternoon at a huge city park in Manila. Imagine the national mall in Washington DC on a bright summer day. We were a fairly large group, including three or four families, cousins, with about two dozen children under […]

Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Observing other people can be a simple measure of how we’re doing. If we find we’re slacking, we can do something about it right away. And I bet encouraging retail sales is good for the economy. Advertisers are always suggesting how to spruce up our boring lives, so we don’t […]

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time A lot of praying happens regularly in places other than church: at sick beds in hospitals, at sporting events, in homes where parents await their children at the end of the day, in cities and towns in the path of storms and wildfires, and lately in every place previously presumed […]

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time When we were younger, mom would make us sit down after Christmas and birthdays to write thank you notes for all the loot we collected. Now that I live away from my parents, it’s tougher to keep up the habit. Expressions of gratitude rely on the receiver’s perceived value of […]

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Do you possess enough faith? And exactly how much is enough faith? Think back to when you were starting out. You were young, inexperienced, full of ideals and hopes. You believed in the inherent goodness of people and wanted badly to make a difference in the world. You wanted to […]