If you polled my staff, my friends, and my family about the things that I do that drive them crazy, I’d be willing to bet I could guess at least half of the top ten. Towards the top of the list would be an obnoxious habit which I indulge, on average, about five times a day. Whenever someone on staff, most especially Fr. Jeff, calmly asks or tells me about something I don’t particularly want to deal with, I immediately tell them to “stop screaming at me,” and then I usually walk out of the room. In short, I am prone to procrastination on difficult matters, and I frequently must be gently pressed into conflict against my will. Click title for full column.

While the things that I hold onto for some semblance of security have become more complex over the years, they most certainly have not decreased in number. Obviously, I can’t go walking around with security blankets or pacifiers nowadays (at least not without getting some well-earned judgmental looks), but my phone, laptop, and the massive box of liturgical books I carry in my car at all times keep me feeling as though I have things under control. I’ve even noticed an alarming multiplication of things I always carry on my person. Phone, keys, wallet, other keys, pocketknife, rosary, oil stock, travel stole; the list goes on. If I leave things behind, I feel exposed in a cruel, uncaring world. How little trust I must have as I rely on heaps of junk to get me through the day. Click title for full column.

It would be unfair (straight up untrue, even) to say that Our Lord is guilty of a great deal of empty promises, but it is certainly the case that He is the source of many false expectations. How often does it happen in the Gospel that people expect a King, a Military Savior, a Kicker of Butts and a Taker of Names, and instead Jesus gives them something else entirely? People want to carry Him off and make Him a king, and He slips away instead. In today’s Gospel, James and John, misunderstanding Our Lord and His mission entirely, ask that they can be seated at His left and His right when He comes into His glory. Trying to cut off their misunderstanding at the pass, He offers them crucifixion instead, to no avail. Click on title for full column.

As the Pastor, I generally try to be the one who has the difficult conversations. It’s not that I don’t trust Fr. Jeff to preach boldly on tough issues, but I feel some sort of mother-bird instinct to take the brunt of things that folks don’t want to hear. Maybe it’s because he’s so small, who knows? On the complete opposite end of that spectrum, I recall going to Mass in another Diocese and hearing a transitional deacon give a beautiful stewardship plea for a parish that wasn’t his own in a diocese to which he didn’t belong. I suppose the pastor knew he would do a great job, because I can’t imagine dumping that kind of responsibility on a rookie who didn’t have any of his own stake in the parish. Click title for full column.

I feel as though I talk about the awesome week of saints at the end of September and beginning of October every year, but as we enter this new planning process in the archdiocese, it is more a propos than ever that we count on the wisdom, witness, and sanctity of the great saints whose feasts we celebrate in this timeframe to guide us. St. Jerome, the Archangels, Guardian Angels, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Francis of Assisi, and Our Lady of the Rosary are all looking on, praying, and interceding as we determine the path forward that will save the most souls. Click on title for full column.