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Comfort, Give Comfort To My People
On Tuesday this week I had the pleasure of visiting one of our assisted living facilities to have Mass with the residents and staff. After Mass, I also was able to celebrate the Sacrament of Anointing the Sick with many of the people who were present. Such moments never fail to move me at a profound level. A scripture passage from the Advent season kept coming to mind: Comfort, give comfort to my people. This is exactly what Christ brings into the world – the abiding presence and comfort of our God. I love these […]
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On The Feast Of St. Nicholas; A Gift Of Prayer & Solidarity
Last Friday morning, within 30 minutes of the 7.0 earthquake that struck the Anchorage area, I received a phone call from the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Christophe Pierre. He was concerned of the report he heard, and wanted to know how the people of the Archdiocese were doing after the earthquake. Yesterday I sent the Archbishop a brief report of our condition and of the damage assessments. Today, I received the following message of prayer and support. While we continue to experience strong aftershocks and put our homes, businesses, parishes, and lives […]
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Advent: A Time To Increase And Abound In Love For One Another
Spending time with today’s Mass readings, prayers, and scripture from the Liturgy of Hours drives home a strong invitation from this Advent season: conversion of life to the LORD. What stands out most is the call to grow in good deeds to others. Spend some time praying and reflecting on the Opening Prayer for Mass on this First Sunday of Advent: Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God, the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ with righteous deeds at his coming, so that, gathered at his right hand, they may be worthy to […]
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ADVENT: The LORD Comes
In some ways, our earthquake, ‘end of times’ experience yesterday, and the aftershocks through the night, were too graphic of an ‘ending’ to this liturgical year. Though it felt somewhat ‘like the end’ several times yesterday, here is a reflection to begin the new liturgical year and Advent. May this ‘new year’ hold much grace for you, your family, for our Church and world! Over the course of my childhood, our home was a bee hive of activity during Advent. The center piece during that liturgical season was the Advent Wreath, and I remember vividly […]
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7.0 Earthquake Today In Anchorage
Dear friends, thanks for all the prayers and offers of assistance today. At 8:29 this morning, a 7.0 earthquake struck 7 miles north of Anchorage, 25 miles below the earth’s surface. It went on for quite some time. I’m happy to report that for such a strong earthquake, we have yet to hear of any serious personal harm, and early reports reveal limited damage to our church structures. On the feast of St. Andrew, the one church to suffer some structure damage is St. Andrew in Eagle River. Also, a house at St. Patrick’s parish […]
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Sisters Of Perpetual Adoration Initiate Association Of Adorers
Thirty three years ago, seven sisters from Mexico came to Anchorage to establish a monastery of the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. Today is the feast day of their foundress, Blessed Sister Mary Magdalene of the Incarnation. On this special day, the community gathered in their chapel to consecrate the first members of their new Association of Adorers. It was a very special celebration! We are blessed to have these sisters present in Anchorage, and especially blessed with their charism of devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. I met with their Superior, Mother Evalia last […]
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Post Baltimore: Where are we? And where are we going?
For various reasons, I have been slow to share my own thoughts with you about our USCCB meeting in Baltimore earlier this month. I needed time to sit and pray with all the events and input of the week. I am sure about two things, one; the People of God need to hear from their bishops in the wake of our meeting in Baltimore, and two, there is hope for our future. No Vote: Without a doubt, the ‘show-stopper’ moment came at the beginning of our meeting, when Cardinal DiNardo announced that he had only […]
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US Bishops Enter Week Of Prayer And Reparation
During this week leading up to the USCCB meeting of bishops in Baltimore, all bishops will this week intensify our prayer. We invite all who are inclined to do so to please join us. Our intentions for this period of focused prayer and sacrifice are listed in the letter below, which I have asked be shared with all our parishioners this weekend. Dear Parishioners: The U.S. bishops are joining together in a commitment of prayer and reparation leading up to the bishops’ general assembly, where we will be making critical decisions in response to the […]
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Catholic Social Services – Alaska – Leading Way To Provide For Homeless Individuals & Families
Catholic Social Services – Alaska continues to do good things. Last week they announced they are recipients of a $100,000 grant from Wells Fargo to strengthen their efforts to provide permanent housing to homeless individuals and families. I continue to be so impressed with our Catholic Social Services, their director, Lisa Aquino, their board of directors and staff. This Catholic organization truly lives up to their mission of Serving Anchorage’s most vulnerable by providing the help and support they need most. I wish to also acknowledge the generosity of Wells Fargo! Thanks for ‘sharing the wealth.’ […]
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Christ Renews All Things
As the month of November approaches, cardinals, archbishops and bishops from around the United States are preparing to travel to Baltimore for our plenary business meeting. This meeting will more than likely be one of the most historic moments in the life of the Church in this country. I ask for your prayers. The renewed headlines of clergy sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults, combined with the new and disturbing reality of cover-up of these crimes by some bishops has angered, disappointed and disillusioned many, if not most of the members of this Church. […]
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Rev. John Wright; Rest in Peace
Fr John Wright- John Anthony Wright was born in Corpus Christi Texas on November 25, 1931, the adoptive son of Fred and Pauline Gilmore. When he was 10 years old he began spending weekends and summers at a large family Ranch owned by the Gallagher’s. This family became his 2nd family. His time spent with the Gallagher’s on their ranch convinced him that rural life was what he wanted and needed. It was this attraction to rural life that eventually brought him to Wyoming. In 1951 he entered the Benedictine Monastery of Subiaco Abbey in […]
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Places of the Blessed Mother
Ein Karim is believed to be the community in the Judean hillsides (Luke 1: 39-40) where our Blessed Mother visited her cousin, Elizabeth. Ein Karim is only 7 miles from Jerusalem and about 100 miles from Nazareth, so it would have taken Mary about two weeks to journey to this town. The literal meaning of Ein Karim is Spring of Generosity, or Spring of the Vineyard. There is a spring in this town which is over 2,000 years old, and tradition says that when Mary and Elizabeth greeted each other, the rock split open and […]
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The Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem
Well, my friends, as I write this post, our pilgrimage is entering the final 30 hours of our time in the Holy Land. I apologize for the delay in updating this blog on our journey. The days have been long and full, and the internet service since arriving in Bethlehem and here in Jerusalem has been non-existent to sporadic at best! Alas, the penitential nature of a pilgrimage. But, please bare with me as I will eventually get the journey documented, here. Tuesday morning was not only the highlight of this trip (for me) but […]
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Bethlehem in the Holy Land
Sunday, April 12, Holy Land Bethlehem was a very small town at the time of Jesus. Translated, Bethlehem means “House of Bread.” In God’s eyes, this must be one of the reasons this humble town was chosen to be the birthplace of the Son of God, the Bread come down from heaven. Sloping away from Bethlehem there is a deep valley where the shepherd’s field lies below the town, and is where the angel appeared to the shepherds to announce to them the birth of our Lord. “Now there were shepherds in that region living […]
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Saturday In The Holy Land
Saturday our group left Galilee behind. We passed into the West Bank and south through the Jordan Valley to the Jordan River for our first stop. The Jordan Valley is the border area between Israel and Jordan. It is a very fertile valley along the river, and some of the best fruits are grown in the region. Along the Jordanian side of the valley, there were miles of greenhouses, where they grow the vast majority of their fruits and vegetables. There were huge palm groves, which grow very tasty dates. Palms cannot be grown from […]