Today I did something that I haven’t had to do in seven years of priesthood and I would have preferred if I never needed to do it. In a little over seven years I have probably done over 180 funerals (some Masses, some services outside Mass, and some simple graveside services). The oldest person I ever did …
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Ezekiel 33:7-9 Romans 13:8-10 Matthew 18:15-20 September 7, 2014 Ezekiel serves the Lord as a prophet. Part of his duties as a prophet is to be a “watchman”. A watchman stands on lookout to watch for trouble and, when there is trouble, alert the people. As a …
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Yesterday I was privileged to have a conversation with a young woman whose faith is very important to her. It is inspiring to me to see such faith in young people. She is currently doing an internship and we were talking about the work environment in which finds herself. It isn’t easy to find a …
Those of you who are longtime readings of this blog know I used to write articles at least weekly here on various topics and events. It’s been at least several months since I have posted anything on a regular basis besides my Sunday homilies. Honestly, the only reason the homilies got posted regularly is because I …
Normally I would be posting my Sunday homily about now but for the first time in a couple of years I did not preach this weekend. Each summer we welcome a person from a diocese, religious community, or official Catholic group to speak seeking support for their ministry. This weekend we welcomed Deacon Garcia from …
What follows is a piece I wrote for next week’s bulletin. How We React to “Stuff” Just about a month ago I was driving back to Ithaca. I was near Mecklenburg when a coy dog walked out in front on me (for those who don’t know what a coy dog is, it’s a vague term …
Today is June 30th and the Memorial of the First Roman Martyrs. While this memorial is an optional memorial, for the last seven years, it has held a particular significance for me. Before I get into why this memorial is personally significant to me, let say a few words about the First Roman Martyrs. In …
Some of the colonists who came to America over 300 years ago came seeking religious freedom. When the United States became an independent nation, we adopted a constitution that included a Bill of Rights. The First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion. Unfortunately, instead of seeking freedom of religion, there are people today who seek freedom from religion. They don’t …
The video of my presentation on Death, Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory is now available at http://renewaloffaith.org/basics/talking/fourlastthings.htm. Peace, Fr. Jeff
From this week’s bulletin cover. The calendar says Spring began on March 20th but since then we have seen cold temperatures and snow. So, we wonder when we will really see some spring weather. I’m writing this on Tuesday when the temperatures will reach 50. Looking at the ten-day forecast, most of the forecasted highs …
