When one of our kids struggled a little in elementary school, she told us she did better when she was assigned as seat in the front of the class.  It turns out, she needed glasses, but she didn’t know that other kids saw the world more clearly than her.  When she got her first pair,…

Happy Easter! Easter brings a renewed Hope to our world. The day of Christ’s resurrectionmay be the most hopeful day on record. It was the day that we learned that the Gospel ofJesus was true. The day our Savior proved his divine nature by rising from the dead. The daymankind confirmed that, “God so loved…

We are blessed to have 4 adults and 2 children in our St James RCIA program this year. We callthose preparing for baptism, “The Elect,” because they have been called by God to join Hiscommunity. At the Rite of Election on Feb 17th, they began a period of intense preparation toreceive the Sacraments of Initiation…

Today, may be one of the hardest days to be Catholic. Here we are, 5 days into Lent and goingthrough withdrawals from the things we’ve given up, and, to make matters worse, we all hadto wake up an hour earlier, due to the time change. Maybe this explains why the 11:30 massis so popular today!…

In today’s gospel Jesus shares The Beatitudes, a teaching that forms the foundation of Christian living. Our Catechism contains a section called, “Our Vocation to Beatitude,” and helps us navigate to the desire for happiness.  It says, “This desire is of divine origin:  God has placed it in the human heart in order to draw…

Before the newness of the New Year wears off, I want to focus on new ways to renew ourspiritual lives. I’ll be unpacking today’s readings and look at how we as individuals and as acommunity can grow closer to God and get his help to liberate us from sin. Last year I asked my son…

Happy New Year!  Today we celebrate, “The Epiphany of the Lord.”  “Epiphany,” comes from the word, “Reveal.”  God reveals Himself to us, especially the Gentile people, who mostly of us are descended from, through his Son, Jesus Christ.  During this feast, we remember the Magi, the wise men, known for “Looking up,” focused on the…

Today is Gaudete Sunday, a word that means “Rejoice!“  As we enter the third week of Advent, we change the colors on the advent wreath and our vestments as we move  from the penitential purple to a more joyful rose.  This always reminds me of Fr. Howard, God bless his soul, he always said, “It’s…

We are blessed, in our modern age, to have at our fingertips modern video content fromBishop Baron, Fr Mike Schmitz, and others. But today, as we celebrate the Solemnity of OurLord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, I want to go back in time and discuss a book, written inthe 1600s, by Brother Lawrence, a…

“Life” and “Love” are two similar words in our language. The quality of our life is directlyrelated to the amount of love in our relationships. When Jesus is asked which are the greatestcommandments, he tells us, love your God and love your neighbor. Our love for God helps usto love others, because God knows our…