Homilies

Many of you may not know that my middle name is ‘Lion’–L-I-O-N. My Dad gave me this unique middle name because he is a family history buff and knew that the first Gardner in America was named Lion Gardiner (with an “i” in the middle, but that’s another story), so in honor of him, my […]

Recently I was hearing Confessions for a men’s retreat. I was posted at a spot outside with a propane space heater nearby to keep me warm in the midst of the cold December evening. As I sat there and stared into the undulating heat of the space heater and its glowing grill, my mind went

On this Second Sunday of Advent, we are introduced to John the Baptist.  Of all the people mentioned in the New Testament, John the Baptist has to be, at least to me, one of the most intriguing and fascinating of all.  His appearance at the beginning of Christian history is different than any other prophet,

A crazy picture came into my mind when I was praying with the Lord’s words about watchfulness in today’s Gospel. It is a snapshot of a moment from a baseball game several years ago between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves. During the game a baseball bat went flying into the stands directly toward the

As we celebrate the great Solemnity of Christ the King, I have two very different Saints on my mind–St. Elizabeth of Hungary and St. Jose Sanchez del Rio. They couldn’t be more different in many ways. Their lives are separated by centuries–St. Elizabeth of Hungary was born in 1207 and St. Jose Sanchez del Rio

Back in the 1980’s and early 90’s I was an active and avid runner, participating in everything from 10 Ks to marathons.  I belonged to the local running club, and we would meet on a regular basis to go on long runs and train together.  In 1991 I trained to run in the Columbus Marathon

There is this discussion that I’ve had with quite a number of people over the years, and it always seems to start the same way.  It usually begins when we’re talking about why we can or can’t do something relating to the liturgy, or in preparation for certain sacraments like Confirmation or Marriage.  And the

I invite you to turn back the clock and remember the early 90’s. It was a simpler time–no smartphones, no social media, even the internet wasn’t really a thing. These were the days of my early childhood. I was just getting ready to start Kindergarten. One of my most enduring memories from that time is

I want to tell you the story of St. Maximilian Kolbe. He grew up in Poland and eventually ended up becoming a Franciscan priest. When the Nazis invaded Poland, he was unafraid to help the Jewish people of his area and so, like many priests at the hands of the Nazis, he was arrested and

The parable about the wedding feast in the Gospel today took my mind back to a magical time in high school: prom night. Specifically, I was remembering my first prom experience as a junior in high school. At that point, I hadn’t dated extensively and definitely had never taken a girl out for a nice