The 18th century Austrian composer, Joseph Haydn, was once asked why his church music was so cheerful and he replied: “When I think upon God, my heart is so full of joy that the notes dance and leap, as it were, from my pen, and since God...
To weep is to make less the depths of grief. (Shakespeare) Grief is as much a part of life as joy. Grief can overshadow us in many ways. The process of grieving over the loss of a loved one is unique to the person experiencing it. It can be...
This witty message was printed on a bumper sticker: live in such a way that your pastor won’t have to lie at your funeral. Who wrote it must have been thinking about goodness of the heart, the amount of good we should leave behind to better the life...
The opening prayer for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time begins with these words: “O God, who in the abasement of your Son have raised up a fallen world, fill your faithful with holy joy…” In our first reading, 500 years before the Incarnation...
From time to time, one of the most beautiful things that occurs in my life is that of cherishing a nice piece of chocolate after a delicious meal. I know, I should not put you into temptation since Lent has now began! But, is there something wrong...
St. John Paul II had one of the longest reigns as Pope in Church history; when he was elected in 1978, he became not only the first Pope from Poland, but the first non-Italian Pope in over 450 years. Most experts agree he helped change the course of...
Our opening prayer for the Third Sunday of Advent provides us with insight that something big is coming: “O God, who see how your people faithfully await the feast of the Lord’s Nativity, enable us, we pray, to attain the joys of so...
One of my favorite books is Between Heaven and Mirth, written by Father James Martin, S. J. Though he seems to have strayed from the strait and narrow path of Orthodoxy in the last few years, Heaven addresses something that has been sorely lacking...
