Be A ‘Voice’ To Those Near You
Dear Friends, I was thinking in the last few days that I already lived a few years longer than my father and many years longer than my youngest brother who died at thirty-two. Clearly God is making straight the crooked ways of my life. It is not complete but at least I am heading in…
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What Is The Meaning Of Purple In Advent?
Dear Brothers and Sisters, As Cardinal John Henry Newman said some hundred years ago, Christ anticipated that as time passes we would tend to neglect him and so he reminded us of his Second Coming. This time he will come much more suddenly so we need to watch for it. The meaning of the command…
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He Welcomes Those Who Welcomed Him
Dear Brothers and Sisters, St. Francis when he kissed the leper he saw Christ and from that moment on he turned his back on the world. Christ is truly present anonymously in the sick, the poor, the unloved, in those we cannot accept. We will be judged on this. It is not an unexamined life…
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Will You Trust My Trust In You?
Dear Brothers and Sisters, The description of a worth wife or valiant woman was placed at the end of the Book of Proverbs because she above all will be able to personify wisdom in the home. Who else can do such a job? We heard last week that the one who seeks wisdom will receive…
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You Either Have Oil (The Holy Spirit) Or You Don’t!
Dear Brothers and Sisters, As we approach the end of the liturgical year many of the gospels focus on the Kingdom of heaven, one of Matthew’s favorite themes. Also during this month of November we are reminded to pray for loved ones who have gone home before us, and to visit their graves. Perhaps some…
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Venerating The Saints Helps Us
Dear Brothers and Sisters, We have the great fortune this week to celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints on a Sunday and so it gave us time to reflect on where we are going in life. The tomb of St. Peter can be seen today in Rome five stories beneath the altar of St. Peter’s…
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It Takes Three To Get Married
Dear Friends, This week Jesus is again being set up by the Pharisees to see how they can get rid of him and he is asked about which law is the greatest? The Jews at this time, and even today, endlessly debate and discuss 613 specific commandments of the Law so to ask which one…
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Give What You Have Back To The World, And Give Who You Are To God
Dear Brothers and Sisters, At Father Flanagan’s Boys Town in Omaha, Nebraska there was a kid who was carrying another one and was asked by a visitor, “Isn’t he heavy?” His response was. “No, he is not heavy, he is my brother.” This became the impetus of a song that you and I have heard…
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Put On Christ, And Make No Provisions For The Flesh
Dear Brothers and Sisters, This gospel ought to make us think: what is the Lord preparing for us in heaven, at this wedding, in this banquet? What could it be that St. Paul says eye has not seen, nor ear has heard what God has prepared for us? How doo I live my vocation as…
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He Never Tires Of Sending Us Prophets
Dear Brothers and Sisters, In many and various ways God spoke to us through the prophets but in these last days he speaks to us by his Son, said the author of the Letter to the Hebrews. What we heard today is an allegory, not a parable. It is a story that has a deeper…
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