Palm Sunday must be the most opportune day for us to assess how much of Jesus’ teachings we have come to live by. Or, from another angle, Palm Sunday is the best day to assess how much the world’s ways still rule us. No matter which passion...
For most old people being in constant pain is the predominant condition of getting old. It dominates the aging process whether it is arthritis, gout, dementia or some other chronic condition. If there is one growing pain that I dislike the most, it...
People remember the last days of their loved ones. Whether their mother or father, son or daughter, husband or wife, had been sick for a long time, or whether they died suddenly in an accident, those who remain can tell you in detail whatever...
I think its time for me to write about one of the basic facts of life. No, I do not mean the birds and the bees. What I have in mind is more like owls and goats. Growing old is not for sissies. Goats and owls are perfect symbols for getting old...
In the middle of the 19th century, there was a six-year-old boy down South, whom we’ll call Mark. His parents had just died, and a well-to-do aunt who lived nearby took him in and raised him as if he were her own son. He grew up, received a good...
Ephphatha!—Be opened! Be open; have eyes to see and ears to hear. We hear this theme often in the gospels. Being open to the Word of God is very important, but it is only the first step; we must share the knowledge we obtain with others. We hear and...
In my 45 years of ministerial priesthood, I have found myself confronted by situations that elicited in me spontaneous, irrepressible pity. As a priest, of course, I know and I preach about the value of suffering in union with Christ. I maintain...
