My remarks to our students on the occasion of our first school mass in our new sanctuary at Prince of Peace, March 18, 2024 Good morning, Prince of Peace! This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice in it! What a wonderful gift this new Church is to our school, our parish and the people of God here in north Texas! Yesterday marked the end of a 9 year project of planning, fund-raising, and three phases of construction, culminating in the dedication of this beautiful new church yesterday.  An appropriate question is “Why?”  Why did we do this? Why spend so much time, effort and ..read more

Despite a lot of huffing and puffing from the pundits in reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision that race can no longer be a criteria for college admissions, the response from the general public has been “remarkably muted” (Brookings Institute, William Galston, 7/7/23).  That’s because most Americans, and strikingly,  most blacks and Hispanics, support the Court’s decision. According to a poll conducted by The Economist/YouGov, Americans who “strongly favor” the decision outweigh those who “strongly oppose” by a 28% margin, 46% to 18%. Young people aged 18-29 back the Court’s deci ..read more

It is frustrating to hear the “talking heads” discuss the recent Supreme Court decision to eliminate race as a consideration for college admissions. Most critique the result, either celebrating the decision or making dire prophecies of what will now occur, without any presentation of the Court’s argument.  So I spent this morning trying to better understand the arguments myself.  Here’s my quick summary:  Earlier Court decisions had allowed race as a category to factor into admissions decisions, but only if it survived “strict scrutiny”—that there was a compelling gover ..read more

Let us be open to new paradigms and possibilities! But let us do so with prudence and deliberation. The problem with navigating our vessels through the powerful currents of contemporary opinion is they are pushed and pulled at the same rate as everyone else's vessels, making it impossible for us to detect the true distance and speed of our travels.  We need reference points alongside the shoreline, outside of the current, to measure how far and how fast we’re moving.  This, it seems to me, is the value of the tradition of our Church. We are quick to marginalize the Church’s cla ..read more

Pope Benedict passed away at the age of 95, on the last day of 2022. His funeral will be this Thursday, January 5. He was pope from April of 2005 to February 2013, the successor to (now saint) Pope John Paul II and predecessor of Pope Francis. Though not as personally “charismatic” as JPII, nor perceived to have the “pastoral warmth” of Francis, he was a man of great faith and intellect, having published over 65 books on matters of theology and spirituality, many as a professor of theology before being elected pope. He was one of the pivotal players of Vatican II in the 1960’s, both during th ..read more

We are in the middle of Advent. The word “advent” means “coming,” and of course, it’s a reference to the coming of Christ at Christmas. So over the next four weeks, we await the coming of Christ. We’re not very good at waiting. We want everything immediately! Think about it: The fast food industry has grown exponentially in the last twenty years because people want their food quickly, and don’t have the time or patience to cook it at home. We have fast food drive-through lines because it’s way too much work to park the car, walk several feet and stand in line to order. And even with drive-th ..read more

These were my remarks to students during assembly today:  You may have noticed our flags are at half mast today. Twenty one years ago today, we were horrified to watch planes fly into the World Trade Center and into the Pentagon, and a fourth plane crash in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 were killed, the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil in our history. We remember all those who died that day. We also continued to pray for the family members who still feel their loss today.  I was just 1 when our president, John F. Kennedy was assassinated,  22 when the space shuttle Col ..read more

Because our house in Daphne sold so quickly, for the last few weeks Diane and I have been living in a friend’s guest house in Fairhope, very close to the Bay. My morning walks have improved considerably; I now walk down the bay to the Fairhope Public Pier, down the pier and back. The sun is just rising from the east as I walk back from the end of the pier, reminding me, once again, how breathtakingly beautiful this place is.  It’s easy to take all this for granted. I grew up in Mobile. During my teenage years, my good friend had a bay house on County Rd 1, south of Scenic 98. They had ..read more

This July 4th, instead of going to the fireworks display in our town, my wife and I scrolled the channels for the best fireworks coverage on TV, and landed on PBS, broadcasting from Washington D.C. The PBS host was Mickey Guyton, a captivating, joyful singer (see above),  and the broadcast featured a variety of popular musicians and entertainers singing and playing our country’s great anthems, like “America the Beautiful,” “God Bless America,” and “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” The night ended in a spectacular fireworks display from the National Mall, bracketed by the Lincoln Memorial on one en ..read more

Note: These were my remarks to our newest National Honor Society class, inducted on March 16, 2022 Good evening. Students, on behalf of our teachers and St. Michael Catholic High School, congratulations on this significant honor tonight.  We are a small school, and we know each other well. That your teachers think so highly of you speaks volumes.  Let me share with you why I think National Honor Society is so important.  Before I was a principal, I was a theology and English teacher.  One day, a student asked me,” Mr. Weber, why do Catholics make such a big deal abou ..read more