How’s your heart?  Not your blood pressure, pulse rate, or VO2 Max rate; but the spiritual soundness of your heart.
I starting pondering this question after reading the first reading from today’s Mass (Ezekiel 36):
“I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you [...]

I think many of us wonder whether we’ve just blown it.  Whether God has just given up on us and declared us a lost cause.  Yes, he may grant us mercy and redemption, but he has nevertheless decided that we have screwed up his plan for us so badly that he has us just playing out [...]

The following are excerpts from the Holy Father’s homily at the closing Mass for WYD 2008.  These thoughts are meant for all of us - not just the youth present Down Under.
“God’s love can only unleash its power when it is allowed to change us from within. We have to let it break through the [...]

1,000 . . . 200,000 . . . 400,000!
That’s 1,000 priests hearing confession at World Youth Day!
That’s 200,000 youth joining the Holy Father in silent, holy (and around the clock) Adoration of the Eucharist!
That’s 400,000 young pilgrims participating in Mass with the Holy Father (the largest crowd in Austrailian history)!
It’s a great day to be [...]

The Angelus

June 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment

One of these days, I’m going to write a book about forgotten traditions in the Church.  It seems that I am writing a great deal about traditions and devotions that I didn’t know about until I really started paying attention a couple years ago.
I came across another example today.
My kids have been in vacation bible school all [...]

Running Races

June 8, 2008 | 2 Comments

I ran a 5K yesterday - my first race of the year.  I was in the top-quarter of my age group and top-third of men in the field.  So, I’m happy with my run.  Finishing up in Great American Ballpark was an added plus (it was the Reds’ annual 5K).
But as I was looking at [...]

I’m talking baseball today and it’s all because of Jay Bruce, the newest member of the Cincinnati Reds.
He is the #1 prospect in baseball, the next can’t miss kid.  And the Reds finally called him up on Monday. 
Tuesday night, he was on base all five times he batted; last night, he reached base another three times.  [...]

Two totally unrelated thoughts for today . . . 
Archbishop Burke just ordained nine new priests to his See in St. Louis.  That’s the total for the Archdiocese in the past three years combined.  They have so many guys interested in the priesthood that they are actually talking about expanding the seminary.
To say that this news is [...]

A lot has changed in my life since the beginning of February when we embarked on the 90 something days that make up Lent and Easter.  How about you?  Are we better servants and followers of Christ?  Have we been enriched with the Holy Spirit?  Have we given over all of our fears, anxieties and [...]

In the Room

May 11, 2008 | Leave a Comment

What was it like in the room?  When the Holy Spirit descended? 
Pentacost Sunday is such a great feast because this day reminds us that the Holy Spirit is always with us in all of his glorious power and with all of his marvelous gifts.  It’s just up to us to recognize and embrace his presence in our lives [...]

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