On Monday afternoon, April 15th, I was working at home when I learned the news of the violent attack against those taking part in the Boston Marathon. The same sinking feeling came over me as when I learned of the Newtown shootings last December. So too the same unanswerable questions: “Why do people do things...Read More

I. Introduction What a joy it is to begin this Board meeting with all of you during these days of the Paschal Octave: the week following Easter Sunday. Indeed, the joy of Easter is so great that the Church celebrates each of these eight days as if each day were Easter Sunday. So I hasten...Read More

Lent is over. Holy Week has been celebrated. Easter Sunday has been observed. Now what? For many the tendency will be to return to business as usual. Lenten penances and charitable practices will be put on the shelf, just the way we put away Christmas decorations. The memory of Holy Week and Easter will fade....Read More

“Things are looking up,” someone said to me the other day, “Spring is here, we have a new Pope and it’s almost Easter.” I had to admit his optimism was infectious. Even those who suffer from hay fever are glad when the days grow longer and warmer. And there’s a lot of joy about our...Read More

I. In Hoc Signo The Church historian, Eusebius, writing in the fourth century, recounts a conversation he had with the Emperor Constantine. Battling Maxentius for control of the Roman Empire, Constantine was about to do battle at the Milvian Bridge that spanned the Tiber River. In the sky there appeared a luminous banner with a...Read More

I. Introduction: The Upper Room In this beautful Cathedral we may feel like a tiny flock yet we are here the friends of Christ. By taking part in this liturgy of Holy Thursday we enter the Upper Room where Christ gathered with his Apostles for the Last Supper. Here our eyes of faith see the...Read More

I. Introduction – Feeling Uncomfortable We have just listened to and shared in a reading from St. Luke’s Gospel about the suffering and death of Jesus Christ. As you just saw, three people read various parts of that that Gospel reading: one served as the narrator – to keep the story moving; another served as...Read More

I. Introduction Less than two weeks ago, the College of Cardinals, with the help of the Holy Spirit, elected a new Holy Father to lead the Church, Pope Francis. And since then he’s taken the world by storm. He isn’t doing this by spending millions of dollars on a pubic relations campaign. He isn’t shaping...Read More