If there is one thing I’ve learned by spending way too much time on social media during the pandemic, is that people love animals. Like most, I feel a strong bond with feathered or four-legged friends of all kinds and treasure those unexpected encounters when they come to visit.

Question of the Week - Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Are there times you just don’t want to be interrupted? Maybe you’re in the middle of a good book, a favorite TV show, an exciting football game, or working on a project you enjoy when you hear someone calling your name, or the phone rings, or there’s a knock at the door. Inwardly you groan and think, “Leave me alone!” I’m sure we’ve all felt this way from time to time.

Saturdays were my favorite day as a child. It meant time spent with my mom, or dad, or both, usually shopping for groceries, buying the latest Nancy Drew volume and, eventually, grabbing a bite to eat at the local diner.

Question of the Week - Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

I expect that if I asked twenty Catholics to answer today’s question, I would hear twenty different answers. “Love,” some might say. “Serve.” “Obey the Ten Commandments.” “Go to Mass.” “Confess your sins.” And which of the multitude of responses would be correct? Why, each one, of course!

Among all the lessons that Scripture offers us, perhaps none is more consistent than the need to embrace change.

With God, change is not just a fact of life. It is a tool in Divine Hands. Just look at Noah, Abraham, Moses, Mary and Joseph, and the Apostles. God entered their lives and asked each of them to let go of what was so they could embrace what would be through the power of God’s Spirit.

Question of the Week - The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Well, here we are at the end of the Christmas season. One last day to recall one of my favorite Christmas songs and movies, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” where Santa sings of others not letting Rudolph join in the reindeer games. Now one might think, “How childish!” However, have you ever experienced such treatment as an adult? I know I have!

The Feast of the Epiphany is one of my favorite feasts of the liturgical year. It is a feast rich with meaning and commemorates, among other things, the adoration of the three magi who travel to Jerusalem looking for the newborn King of the Jews. They had seen his star in the sky and had traveled many miles to do him homage. Their searching would lead to the revelation of the Son of God to the gentile people.

Question of the Week - The Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord

Over thirty years ago, I had the blessing of serving as pastoral associate at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Richmond, Virginia. A part of my ministry was to run the food pantry and oversee the parish's outreach ministries. One of the women we served, Charlotte, often came by to sit in the warmth of the parish hall and chat a bit.

Question of the Week - The Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God