In my mail, I received a special delivery from Fr. Erick, pastor Divine Mercy Catholic parish in Las Vegas. I was humbled to receive a gift of a chasable with the image of the Our Lady of Gaudalupe. In April during Holy Week, Fr Erick had invited me to return to his parish to celebrate this beautiful feast with his parishioners. December 12th is the Feast of Gaudalupe and my wonderful friend and brother priest Fr Don plans to broadcast the services via You Tube from Las Vegas for your prayerful reflection. Services will include children crowning of Our Lady, special Masses and mariach ..read more

  With deep sadness, my best friend died suddenly of a massive heart attack last Sunday.  This afternoon, his family has asked me to celebrate his life for a funeral service. Let me share one memory of this amazing man.   In 2017, we traveled together on a Road Scholar trip to Acadia National Park in Maine. We began our walking tour with a group of twenty people from around the country. We hiked the trails about 5-9 miles each day. During the tour, you had free time to do your own thing. That was Ken’s opportunity to explore new adventures not in the itinerary and this wo ..read more

  In the gospel for the Feast of Christ the King, Jesus tells Pilate he’s come to bear witness to the truth, and I can just imagine the look on the Pilate’s face.   Can’t you see this cynical politician listening to this silly, pathetic Jewish rabbi whom, he’s told, is claiming to be a king? Pilate must’ve been shaking his head and asking himself, “What are these Jews wasting my time with now? Look at this dirty peasant standing here! This guy couldn’t rule over a room full of toddlers let alone rule this nation of relentlessly rebellious, superstitious barbarians. What’s all this ..read more

  “Are you happy?” How would you answer that honestly?   My suspicion is that, for most of us, this would be a painful question which, given our fantasy of what happiness should be, we would tend to answer in the negative: “no, I don’t think I’m happy. I would like to be, but there are too many frustrations in my life which block happiness.”   For a Christian, there is a better question. The essential question should not be, “Am I happy”? but rather, “is my life meaningful?” That is a different question, one which can help our perspective on things.   What God has promise ..read more

  So we easily can let ourselves be led astray. It’s so easy to give way to anger or despair and forget to seek the way of Christ.   There are, no doubt, some Christians who will see the recent political events of our country as part of a countdown to the end of the world. Don’t be fooled. Jesus has already told us these things will always be happening. In our most dire moments God’s will for us is still life.   It is easy to give way to fear and anger, and easier still to give way to despair and apathy.  Yes, the temple was destroyed and very few stones were left on ston ..read more

    I am at the hotel desk in Mississauga, and De the manager, shows me how to connect to the Wi Fi so that I can contact an Uber driver to take us to the horse show in Toronto. Sue, my wife, started attending 60 years ago with her sisters and the family tradition continues. However, what was once a country drive through farmland is a nightmare driving in an asphalt jungle.   So we connect with UberX to drive to Exhibition Place in the heart of downtown to the 102nd Toronto Horse Show. Our driver has a Mediterranean accent. Mounir shared that he left his home in Egypt when he ..read more

  I went back into my photo gallery and found a God moment when we invited the children in the parish to wear their Halloween costumes for Mass on Sunday. It reminded me of the following movie and the message of Jesus in the gospel to “lose the cape.”   In the movie, “The Incredibles” a family of superheroes try to save the world from destruction. In Bob Goff's book "Love Does," he writes about the superhero dad in the movie. He is an insurance claims adjustor, but he really wants to use his superhero powers. He begins drawing pictures of the superhero suits he wants to wear. Of co ..read more

   If Jesus showed up in your life today and just got in your face and said, "What do you want me to do for you?" What would you ask him for?   I had returned from a trauma response and bought a new toilet seat. The instructions showed how to install but nothing about how to replace the old seat. I’m crawling under the porcelain and trying to turn the plastic knob to unbolt the metal screw when the knob breaks apart. You Tube has no online instructions on what to do next. I struggle with a socket racket, then a crescent wrench and no luck removing this bolt. What I want Jesus t ..read more

  The problem is all of us can become slightly delusional at times. When we’ve made up our minds to a position or an idea that comforts us, we’re going to hang on to it like a deer tick on a fat man’s thigh. We’ll argue to the death for something that’s completely insane to others but gives us the sense of security or righteousness we our insecurities crave.   Case in point: the belief held by Jesus’ disciples that their rabbi and leader will one day start a revolution which will overthrow the oppressive occupation of the Roman Empire, elevate the suffering peasants, and put Jesus ..read more

  I am at Walgreen’s trying to download a photo that I took in Oregon to create a “Get Well” card for a Sonshine Friend who has started chemotherapy.   The struggle begins that the photo is on my computer and on not my IPhone. I call Apple Support and Cassy guides me through the steps to upload the image from the computer to my cell phone.   Step Two. I have to figure out how to download the photo from my IPhone to the Walgreen website to print a blank card. Ricky, the Walgreen customer service manager comes to my rescue. He connects my IPhone to the Walgreen print machine and ..read more