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
In keeping with yesterday’s feast of St. Luke, I’d like to offer a few thoughts regarding the New Evangelization. If you pay any attention to the statements and teachings of the Pope’s, one of the common themes of both the late Pope John Paul II and our present Holy Father, Read more
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
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
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
For nearly sixteen years, my brother and I have owned some forested property in Southern Indiana. This part of the country is known for its beautiful hardwoods, such as White and Red Oak, Maple, Walnut, Cherry, Tulip Poplar, Ash, etc. We have had many years of enjoying a day off Read more
In prayer this morning, as usual, I was bringing the many “needs” of the Diocese to God in prayer. Somewhere in the midst of this prayer, a simple syllogism popped into my mind: Our needs are great. God is Great. Our need is for God! This is a very simple Read more
My hope to post a few more pictures will not be met. However, I do want to give credit to a few other individuals for their hospitality this week. Brother Bernie and I received some tremendous generosity not only from Fr. Clark, who coordinated much of the events around this Read more
This past week we saw some of the most beautiful scenery of God’s creation…right here in NW Wyoming. We spent the week NW of Cody Wyoming, in Crandall, just East of Yellowstone Park in the Shoshone National Forest. Pictured above are my brother and I, and in another picture, my Read more
I’ve just returned from the third of five deanery priests gatherings. In an effort to better know the priests and their concerns, as well as allow them the opportunity to better know me, I am meeting with the priests on a deanery basis beginning around 2:00pm and going until lunch Read more