When I’m standing up there at the altar, I sometimes wish I could take a time-out and explain what I am doing or why I am doing it, because so much of what we do has long forgotten origins.

One example would be kissing or “reverencing” the altar. I’m kissing the “altar,” which has crosses cut into its corners and a silver dollar sized circle that covers a few bone splinters taken from the catacombs of Rome, a reminder of our ancient roots and the blood of the martyrs. (Read more…)

Today is the great Feast of Corpus Christi, when the Church, with joy, celebrates the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.

In 1247, the Feast of Corpus Christi was celebrated in France for the first time. It gained widespread acceptance throughout the Church after 1300. The Feast is generally considered to reflect the Holy Thursday Mass, but without its sorrowful connection to the Passion.

An outdoor procession has been an integral part of Corpus Christi since its beginning, and may have originated from the procession of the Blessed Sacrament to the Altar of Repose that is conducted on Holy Thursday. (Read more…)

We might have thought that before God created the angels and before he created the people on this planet, He must have been alone out there somewhere.  But when God sent His Son to save us, we learned that God was never alone.  He was always a family, a sharing community of three – Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The three Persons in God are so united in love and submission to one another that the three act as one, always in perfect harmony.  That boundless love of God spills over into all His creation, so that God’s love for us, too, is unlimited.  God loves each one of us totally.  We divide our love and put limits on it, but God loves fully, completely, and endlessly. (Read more…)

On Saturday, May 11th, thirteen of our children received their first Holy Communion. They received Jesus Christ our Savior for the first time. There is no doubt that meeting with Jesus in First Holy Communion is an unforgettable moment, a day to be remembered as one of life’s most beautiful.  It is a day of great family celebration.

This was a special day and a happy day for their parents too.  They witnessed their children taking a new step in faith. (Read more…)

Today, May 12th, we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, commemorating that day when Jesus was taken up to heaven, to the glory of his Father – 40 days after he rose from the dead and 10 days before the Feast of the Pentecost.  What is so significant or important about this feast?

Once, I was asked, “If Jesus loves us and lives forever, why did he leave?” It’s an excellent question. If we consider the Ascension simply in terms of Jesus leaving us, then we might wonder why He did it. (Read more…)

Next Sunday, May 12th, we celebrate Mother’s Day and we honor our moms for all they do for us and for the sacrifices they make for us. They do many ordinary things and do them extraordinarily well. Primarily through their teaching and their example, they assist in an important way, in passing down our precious faith to their children.

When we think of mothers, we only have to think of Mary, the mother of Jesus. May is the month of Mary, and this month we honor her in a special way. (Read more…)