Seeking Jesus

Today, I am in Evanston, at St. Mary Magdalen parish, and will also celebrate Mass with the community of St. Helen in Ft. Bridger later in the morning.  There are a number of interesting lines in the readings this weekend, but the one I will offer a brief thought on, Read more…

Mary’s Month

As we draw near the end of this month of October, a brief conversation with one of my priests this week gave me the idea to share with you a prayer for vocations which fits easily into the rosary. While I was pastor in New Albany, Indiana at Our Lady Read more…

Week In Review

I’ve had a great week being “pastor” of the diocese, traveling around once again. Monday, I was in Laramie visiting with our new Vocation Director, Fr. Bill Hill. He is getting up to speed rather quickly, and I’m sure he is ready to speak with any of you about where Read more…

Relevance of the Church

Recognizing the delicate balancing act required to address this topic, I wish to pull together some thoughts regarding the purpose of the Church, and thus, its relevance for people of all ages, including today. On a feast day such as today, the Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, it is good Read more…

Proclaim Christ

Sunday, we celebrated Mission Sunday, and I seem to be a bit like a broken record lately.  Once again, the readings spoke so clearly to the Mission of the Church, the mission of every baptized person, to proclaim Christ to the world.  Listen again to the words from St. Paul to the Read more…

The Call We Have Received

This week’s first readings are taken from St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians.  This is undoubtedly one of my favorites of Paul’s epistles.  I chose my own episcopal motto from this epistle:  Ephesians 4:15:  Rather, living the truth in love, we should grow in every way into him who is the Read more…

Fidelity; Loyalty

Today is the feast of St. Luke, Evangelist.  There is a marvelous depiction of his loyalty to St. Paul represented in the courtyard of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome.  (Picture to the left)  The scene recalls the Scripture passage of 2 Timothy, 4: 11 where St. Paul writes:  Read more…

Fire of Sin; Fire of Soul

I recently began reading Generations of Priests  by Thomas J. McGovern.  This book reviews the lives of ten saintly priests / bishops of our tradition.  The first reviews the life and writings of St. John Chrysostom (345 – 407).  St. John was known for his preaching and great use of Read more…

Invasive Species

Another lesson from nature comes from the effort to remove invasive species from our woods. There is one tree, oddly enough named, Tree of Heaven, that is an invasive species, and must be controlled if not eradicated. Invasive species in a hardwood forest are synonymous with sin in the spiritual Read more…