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On Saturday of this week “the night will be as clear as day.” No, there is no nocturnal phenomenon to anticipate. Rather, in Catholic churches the Paschal candle will be lit, letting Christ shed “his peaceful light on all” during the Easter Vigil. The solemn night of the Easter Vigil floods the assembly with sensory…

The Blessed Virgin was a woman of sorrows. She suffered hearing Simeon’s words that a sword would pierce her heart. Mary suffered in the flight to Egypt, on the day Jesus left for school and the house seemed so empty, when rumors claimed Jesus was “mad,” when mother and Son met on the via crucis,…

The evangelists occasionally show us Jesus getting away from it all, finding a spot to commune with his Father. On the night before he died, he crossed the Kidron Valley to pray, to agonize with his Father. “Ah, Gethsemani, my favorite garden! Thank you for the rest and calm you’ve given me after hot afternoons…

Saint Paul tells us to rejoice always in the Lord. The Church sets aside two days called Rejoice Days—Gaudete Sunday in Advent and Laetare Sunday in Lent. Two days to remind us that there is reason to rejoice despite war, poverty, mass shooting, and weather disasters among many other things that make us question “Rejoice?”…

There is no week of the year more replete with rituals than Holy Week. Rituals are not routines, even when we have memorized the gestures and words.  When ritual is done well—and that’s why lectors and singers practice—it helps us transcend our limits in sensing God’s presence. Ritual also strengthens community in its praise, hopes,…

Have you checked your Lentometer lately? You know, the gauge indicating the number of good deeds, the depth of your prayer, and the difficulty of your fasting throughout the 40-day season. If you’re reading this toward the end of March and feel good about your Lenten practices, congratulations! If you feel the Lentometer shows you…

The crew team at Notre Dame Academy in Toledo achieved a record for rowing a stationary rowing machine for the greatest number of hours ever recorded. It may be a long time before their record is broken, because they rowed 40 more hours beyond the previous record. While I know nothing about rowing, I know…

At this point in Lent we read about the blind man whom Jesus cured. The blind man’s neighbors assumed the parents must have been sinners that God punished their son with blindness. Jesus claimed, “Not true.” And then the Pharisees “proved” Jesus was a sinner, because he cured on the sabbath. Two innocent people were…

Perhaps we may consider God to be like a Big Banker in the Sky. You know, make sure we have a lot of revenue for our afterlife. And Lent is a good time to increase our heavenly bank account with more church attendance, fasting and almsgiving. All this is well and good. After all Jesus…

Recently I heard a talk from a parishioner. Let me share it. Nick loved skydiving. He and his buddies would regularly take the jump. Planning to join his buddies for their usual thrill, Nick decided not to participate when his father told him this story: “Even though I am a Jehovah Witness, Mary appeared to…