Fr Tom Gardner

Presence is a powerful thing. There is nothing that compares to being in the presence of a person you love, a pet you love, or even a place you love. People, pets and places have a way of impressing themselves on your heart. For me, it was great to return home, even though my pilgrimage […]

All of you who were alive on 9/11 probably remember where you were when you heard the news. I was in Mrs. Montanero’s French class at Bexley High School. I want to tell you the story of 24-year-old Welles Crowther, who was working for the investment firm Sandler O’Neill on the 104th floor of the

Today’s celebration of the Trinity is an important feast in the life of the Church. What we believe about the God who created us and has revealed Himself to us has important implications for how we live. It’s always tricky to preach and teach about the Trinity because God is God and we are not.

My favorite year of elementary school was fifth grade. The person who made that year truly special was my teacher, Chris Kaune. Chris was passionate about teaching and loved us students, giving many of us nicknames and treating us with great kindness. He brought an energy and excitement to the classroom that was hard not

I have two heroes on my mind as we ponder the beautiful readings for this sixth Sunday of Easter; one who is nationally known and one who is locally known. The national hero on my mind is a man named Desmond Doss. In case you don’t know who that is, he is a hero from

The image of the vine that Jesus uses in the Gospel for this weekend sent me down a bit of a rabbit hole. There are so many videos on the internet about grafting. I learned the term ‘scion’ from these videos. It might be a familiar term to anyone who does a lot of gardening,

My mind is on the beautiful, fictional land of Narnia once again. You may remember me talking before about C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia book series in previous homilies. Right now I am reading book one in the series with the 6th and 7th graders at the school, so it’s not too surprising that a

When I was 19, I spent my first real summer away from home. I decided to do a summer household program in Minnesota with Saint Paul’s Outreach, the Catholic group I was involved in during college. That summer I lived with a number of other young Catholic men in a house near the University of

Today is a great day, a day of joy, a day of victory, a day of gladness, because Jesus is risen! Alleluia. As I prayed about the Easter glory that we celebrate today and throughout the Easter season, once again the Lord impressed upon my heart the truth that all of history, going back to

What a privilege we have tonight in joining Christians all over the world to herald the triumph of Jesus’ Divine Love over sin and death. As we heard Dcn. Doug sing in the Exultet at the beginning of this beautiful Mass: This is the nightthat even now, throughout the world,sets Christian believers apart from worldly