About forty years ago, a ten-year-old boy named Dave was taught how to play chess by his grandfather, a World War II veteran. They played frequently, and, after three years of trying, Dave, at age 13, finally beat his grandfather. As he helped him...
It was an interesting weekend for me. I embarked on a journey to a renowned Catholic university, drawn by the allure of a football game. The experience was steeped in tradition, marked by grandiose basilicas, pregame prayers, and the familiar...
Working with the Holy Spirit we continue to build up the glory to which we are destined as Body of Christ, so that, at the end of time, we may be as glorious as Jesus Christ, our Head, is. On the first Sunday of Advent we were invited by Jesus to...
It’s very easy for persons in positions of authority to let their sense of importance go to their heads. The story is told of the captain of a battleship whose warship was on naval maneuvers one foggy night. A lookout reported a light in the...
In his apostolic letter concerning the call to holiness in today’s world, Gaudete et Exultate, written by Pope Francis on March 19, 2018, one is fascinated by the fact that the phrase our lives is found some nineteen times. This fact...
The parable given us for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time— stings. It is very brief, to the point and, ouch! It stings because it is aimed at most of us, “the insiders.” I mean, it is directed at those who have available all the tools, the...
The phrase that comes to my mind reflecting on the Gospel passage from Matthew (18:21-35) is the one immortalized in the book and film The Godfather: “An offer that cannot be refused.” Yes, when it comes to forgiving or unwillingness to...
Many years ago I read a novel—I don’t remember the name—which related Satan’s greatest and most dangerous and intense plot ever to conduct spiritual warfare against God’s people. Set in the present day, the story described how a series of apparently...