May 24 marks the fifth year since arrival of Laudato sí, Pope Francis’ encyclical On Care for Our Common Home. This is Francis’ greatest gift to us so far. I truly believe this. Laudato sí is a frank (pun intended), and science-based account of…
Pope Francis consecrated the world to the Blessed Virgin Mary earlier this month, at Easter. Similarly, the Bishops of Latin America consecrated their peoples to Our Lady of Guadalupe on Easter. The Bishops of Canada and the United States are…
Have you noticed that bread making is on the rise lately? Apart from toilet paper, flour and yeast appear to be the items most likely out-of-stock in stores. Is this surprising? What if anything does bread-making require? Time. And time…
Last week we asked how you are planning to bring the holiest weekend of the year alive without the benefit of your physical presence at Church. Here are some of the responses we received: “For me to live is Christ…
March was a trying month for everyone as we struggled with the grave repercussions of covid-19. It has touched each of us in ways we wouldn’t have thought possible even a few weeks ago. Throughout the last few weeks of…
Coughing in the craw of corona I cried to you, O Lord, and you, in defiance of all demands of social distancing took me snug into your arms! Pitched into dark seething waters of viral TMI, locked out of churches,…
I have the good fortune to have two of the best-known saints as my name patrons, and they are both celebrated in March. My first name being Joseph and my second name Patrick, it’s pretty obvious that this is a…
Why was the Samaritan woman drawing water at the well at noon, the hottest part of the day? This is not the time that most people would be coming for water. Most people would want to avoid the heat of…
What is the Reupholstered Psalms about? This book contains reworked versions of the first 50 psalms in the Hebrew Bible. I call them “reupholstered” because the technique used in writing them is akin to the wise and, unfortunately, underutilized art…
In the 1200s, Francis of Assisi made people feel uncomfortable about their lavish lifestyles and disregard for the poor. He got into much trouble for his prophetic lifestyle. Eventually, he was lauded for his beautiful model of voluntary poverty and…