And so begins another summer, barbecues, parades, vacations, and relaxation. Yet before the festivities begin, we pause to remember. Taking time to once again stroll over the sacred ground where our loved ones, our heroes, and countless other unknowns lie sleeping, waiting in perpetual hope. We bring flowers, stones, and flags, recounting timeless stories and … Read more
Pope Leo XIV and the Augustinian “Restless Heart” Through the ,now, more two millennia of Roman pontiffs, there are names that continue to resound through the centuries, think St. Peter, St. Gregory the Great, and St. John Paul the Great, and names that have silently fallen into oblivion, Agapetus II, for example doesn’t often surface … Read more
Yesterday I had the opportunity to take my daughter to the pumpkin patch. A day off of school collided perfectly with her birthday and was a great chance for a Daddy-Daughter day. As a newly minted 8-year-old she was anxious to show me how mature she was. Bravely stating she was old enough for the … Read more
“What people don’t realize is how much religion costs. They think faith is a big electric blanket, when of course it is the cross. It is much harder to believe than not to believe.” ~ Flannery O’Connor The great fifty days of Easter are now over. It is now time for us, as Christians, to step … Read more
As spring flowers once again begin to bloom, I am drawn to happy memories of Grandma. Some of my very earliest and favorite memories are of learning how to plant flowers in Grandma’s backyard beds. Of planting an apple seed in a tin can and week by week watching it grow. Learning the importance of … Read more
This is the post I almost didn’t write. It’s easy for me to wax philosophically, or historically, or musically, for hours. Although I can and do get extremely emotionally charged about these topics, they don’t require delving into the depths of my soul, the most closed off places of my emotional being. Talking about any … Read more
I am eternally grateful that I was afforded the opportunity to have an amazing relationship with both of my grandfathers. They were both born in the summer of 1923, within two weeks of each other. Both of them grew up on farms during the height of the Great Depression. They would both find their way … Read more
As a society we have become inundated by emojis. Most of us have become like robots when scrolling through social media sites, handing out countless compulsory “likes.” Everyday, all day, usually without giving much thought to what we are “liking.” We wish happy birthdays to people we have not seen in years. Sometimes even to … Read more
On this blessed Solemnity of All Saints, I would like to offer a reflection on the littlest Saints of God. These precious ones were not famous martyrs, theologians, missionaries, kings or queens, yet they shine before the Altar of God just as beautifully as any of them. Their witness is not recorded in grandiose stories … Read more
Justice, Chivalry and the noble pursuit of Perfection. A trifold approach to achieving Plato’s idealized Utopian society. Those of us familiar with English history, or perhaps musical theater, will recognize these as the hallmarks on which the Court of Camelot stood. We recall Camelot today with heartrending emotion. A sort of unattainable, Garden of Eden … Read more
