Homilies

One of my favorite movie musicals is “The Sound of Music.” It is the perfect combination of a great story, great characters and great music. Ever since I first saw it as a kid, I couldn’t help but get wrapped up in the story of the Von Trapp children as they came to know and […]

When I was a child, my friends and I always loved the playground at Montrose Elementary, where we all went to school. We would climb trees, swing on the swings, play tag, do the monkey bars, slide down the slides. It was a great place to have fun. But one day that place didn’t seem

Over the years, many people have asked me who my dog, Benny, is named after. Some may think I named him after Pope Benedict XVI, but I didn’t. As much as I love Papa Benny, my Benny is named after someone else. He isn’t named after the song by Elton John, as catchy as it

At the beginning of every Mass, after the priest invokes the Blessed Trinity “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” the first words from the priest are “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with

I will never forget the bizarre experience of living through the Spring of 2020, as I’m sure you won’t either. When news of drastic responses to the pandemic started coming in the waning days of February 2020, I was on vacation in San Diego. During the later part of that trip, I got word that

At the end of the Lord of the Rings trilogy of movies, there is a moment that always moves me. It is at the coronation of Aragorn as king of the humans. Huge crowds surround King Aragorn, and right beside him are his hobbit friends with whom he fought side by side. When the hobbits,

It is such a blessing to be with you all tonight. Truly, this is a night to celebrate God’s abundant love. As we heard in that beautiful reading from St. John’s Gospel, Jesus “loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.” Tonight I am happy to gather with you as

One of my favorite Saints is St. Teresa of Calcutta, known more commonly as Mother Teresa. I love her because she was a woman unafraid to proclaim challenging truths. In the midst of her acceptance speech for the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize, Mother Teresa had this to say:  And I feel one thing I want

Recently I was out walking with Benny and I saw an empty milk jug getting blown down the road. I grabbed it and carried it with me the rest of the walk, throwing it away once we got back to the rectory. As we walked, I felt the emptiness of this gallon jug and thought

Back when I was in high school at Northland High School in Columbus (Home of the Vikings!), I participated in some sports, and was an avid fan of the different sporting events.  We had our natural rivals, which was Brookhaven, just down Karl Road from us.  The intensity of rivalry grew when I went to