We are in the midst of the holiest time of year. This Sunday (March 28th) we celebrated Palm Sunday. We generally remember it as Palm Sunday because of the blessing of the Palms at the beginning of the Mass. The blessing of the palms and the accompanying gospel reminds us of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem …
In years past the priests and the nuns did most of the work in our parishes. Now, most parishes have lay staff members who are married with families of their own and we could not do all the ministry we do without the help of our parishioners. Still, there remains something profound about a call …
Sloth, in a sense, is laziness but it is not plain laziness. Catholic Reference Net defines sloth as Sluggishness of soul or boredom because of the exertion necessary for the performance of a good work. The good work may be a corporal task, such as walking; or a mental exercise, such as writing; or a …
Continue reading ‘Sloth – The Last of the Seven Deadly Sins’ »
I want to let you know I have been received a significant number of spam comments to this blog. Of course, I have not allowed those comments to be posted. Some of the comments have been written beginning with “thanking me” for the writing the blog but then have advertising information in them. If you have written a …
With the upcoming vote in Congress, health care is at the forefront in the news again. It is also a “hot topic” within Catholic Conversations ranging from the Facebook page of the NYS Catholic Conference to the United States Bishops’ website at http://www.usccb.org/healthcare/ and I am sure in many other places. The current bill to be …
We continue with our discussion of the Seven Deadly Sins. Today we look at lust. Lust and love are two different things. When we love someone we care about their needs. We do what we can to help them because we understand them to be a “person” with a special dignity given by God. We …
Each year, on the second Tuesday of March, the New York State Catholic Conference holds Public Policy Day. NYS Catholics are encouraged to come to Albany to advocate for our Catholic Principles. The Conference selects issues to encourage us to speak about to our legislators. This year’s issues included funding for Catholic Schools, Health Care …
During this season of Lent, I have been leading a Bible Study in the parish. We meet after the last Mass on Sunday for about an hour and fifteen minutes to discuss the Sunday readings. We have only averaged about five people for each of the three Sundays of Lent so far. It raises the question …
Gluttony is defined by www.catholicreference.net as an “inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or drink.” Gluttony is eating or drinking too much. Eating too much can lead to obesity, heart attacks, and obesity. Excessive drinking can lead to alcoholism. Even if the drinker is not an alcoholic, the excess drink can still lead …
Continuing our look at the Seven Deadly Sins, I turn to greed and envy. I put these two together because they both seek to have things we do not have. Greed is to seek what we do not have. It is not directed towards any person. It is excessive desire to have material things or power. …
