One of the biggest obstacles I faced when I began my journey back to the church was that of the "Clergy Abuse" crisis. How could I believe in an institution that covers up severe wrongdoing by those who we are supposed to trust? According to the Catholic Church, they are the absolute moral authority. We …
Thou Shalt Not Kill
Since beginning my journey back to the Catholic faith, there have been many times when I have questioned the teachings of the Church. Even though I question them after researching them and thinking about them I find myself agreeing with the Church's position. One of these questions involved the death penalty. Prior to this week, …
The More Things Change
The more they stay the same. I've found myself doing more and more reading lately, really getting into various Papal documents, things like encyclicals and exhortations. One of these is fairly recent, "Evangelii Gaudium" or "The Joy of the Gospel" written by Pope Francis. I get my copies through Verbum.com but you can get them …
Give Me Strength
I don't normally talk about my past other than to say I wasn't the best Catholic or Christian and I made a lot of bad choices. But the last few days have brought back some memories of when I was younger, mostly about my Dad. This past Tuesday my wife had a total hip replacement …
The Face of Jesus
I have previously written on how we never know when that person we help (or don't help as the case may be) might be Jesus. Like we are told in Matthew 25:45: "Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me." But did …
God Bless America
Happy Independence Day! Today is the 242nd anniversary of this great country of ours. It's sad to think of how many of our fellow Americans have forgotten some of the principles this country was founded on. I am going to share some of them today. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men …
Catholicism Crisis: The Immigration Debate
I'm having a Catholicism Crisis. What is a Catholicism Crisis? I define it as being torn between what the Catholic Church teaches and what I believe. At one time my whole life was a Catholicism Crisis, after all, I came from that post-Vatican II era when catechizing was almost non-existent and attitudes about many Catholic …
A Cut and Paste World
I try not to get too involved in politics on this site but there are times it is hard not to. This is one of them. Currently, there has been a lot of attention focused on the detaining of children who have crossed the border. They have been herded into detention centers and have been …
What do you do with an empty church
What do you do with an empty church? I don't mean a church without any parishioners, although that is a problem too, I mean an unused church building? My parish is in possession of one right now, as well as a parish school. Here is a little background. At one time in my little town, …
Reflection: Shunning Over-Familiarity
Today we reflect on “Shunning Over-Familiarity” from “The Imitation of Christ” by Thomas A. Kempis. We are told not to open our hearts to everyone we meet, instead we need to use discretion. Many of us like to mingle with the rich and famous, or people younger than us. We feel like we are getting …
