Fr Tom Gardner

There were a slew of really good animated Disney movies in the 90s and early 2000s, and one of my favorites from that era is “The Emperor’s New Groove.” Beyond its quirky sense of humor and great voice acting, I love this movie because at its core, it is a story about the Emperor’s change […]

As we embark upon the season of Advent, where we prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ, I’m imagining a stable worker named Samuel, who without knowing it, was preparing himself for the first coming of Christ.  Samuel lived in the city of David, also known as Bethlehem. His earliest memories were of watching

As a society we tend to put celebrities on a pedestal, treating them as larger than life. And to a certain extent this makes sense. They are recognized by millions of people and their faces are found on huge movie screens and billboards. So quite literally, images of them are larger than life. I find

I really enjoy wedding receptions. And as a former wedding DJ, I got to see quite a few of them in my time. One of my favorite moments in wedding receptions was always the Father Daughter Dance. There is something so touching about seeing the love between a dad and his little girl as he

In 2007, I ran my first half marathon. The whole experience was pretty intense, as I had never run more than maybe a couple miles before starting to train for that race. But I stuck to a training program by Hal Higdon that gradually prepared me to run the full 13.1 mile race. I will

Let’s begin by inviting the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts.  + Come, Holy Spirit. + Today, I want to compare two men: an author and a priest. The author is someone known all over the world for his fiction and nonfiction books. In his autobiography, he talks about the various different factors that

I want to start tonight by saying how much of an honor and privilege it is for me to share this significant anniversary with you as Pastor of Sacred Heart Parish. It’s not often that you get to mark such a significant moment in the life of a parish, and I am blessed to stand

Deacon Doug and I are big fans of movie soundtracks. The orchestral music that plays during movies is usually very evocative, and some soundtracks are so recognizable that you know the movie right away. I especially love the music from The Lord of the Rings. There is a song called ‘Concerning Hobbits’ that we initially

Being a priest in my mid 30’s, one of the fun things in this season of my life is getting to enjoy the ‘uncle life.’ Besides my brother’s toddler and kindergartener, two of my sisters currently have babies just a few months old, so I have had a good amount of time around assorted little

We are still a long way from Christmas, but the parable that Jesus tells us in the Gospel today has me thinking of my favorite Christmas movie of all time, It’s a Wonderful Life. The movie follows the life of a man named George Bailey, who finds himself in a desperate financial situation and thinks