I speak and write often these days about the kerygma, the fundamental proclamation of the Gospel.
Category: Bishop
Dealing with current struggles
Michael O’Brien, a noted Catholic author, has written a series of novels over the last 30 years, exploring the struggle of good and evil, the power and truth of the Catholic faith, and — in remarkably prescient ways — predicting the current cultural struggle regarding religious freedom and the definition of the human person. I highly recommend reading his works.
The dignity of work
We are several weeks past Labor Day, but work as a topic of reflection is always timely since it constitutes a significant component of our time, energy, and lives.
Re-learning the Good News
At the very heart of the Christian faith is the conviction that Jesus Christ died to redeem us from sin and death, to restore us to right relationship with the Father, and to open the gates of eternal life to His faithful people.
The Blessed Mother and God’s gift of humanity
This past Monday, we celebrated the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Church’s conviction from the beginning, that Mary was assumed body and soul into Heaven at the end of her remarkable mission here on Earth.
We can rebuild culture and society
“St. Benedict . . . found the world, physical and social, in ruins, and his mission was to restore it in the way, not of science, but of nature . . . not professing to do it by any set time or by any rare specific or by any series of strokes, but so quietly, patiently, gradually . . . Silent men were observed about the country, or discovered in the forest, digging, clearing, and building; and other silent men, not seen, were sitting in the cold cloister, tiring their eyes, and keeping their attention on the stretch, while they painfully deciphered and copied and re-copied the manuscripts which they had saved. There was no one that “contended, or cried out,” or drew attention to what was going on; but by degrees the woody swamp became a hermitage, a religious house, a farm, an abbey, a village, a seminary, a school of learning, and a city . . .
Experiences at the World Meeting of Families
Several weeks ago, I had the inspiring experience of being a delegate to the World Meeting of Families in Rome.
Who is the human person?
When I ponder the many conflicts currently raging in our culture, whether it be abortion, gender identity, sexual orientation, racism, or politics in general, the unifying thread of these fiery arguments is the fundamental question: Who is the human person?
A time of Eucharistic Revival
As we celebrate the great Solemnity of Corpus Christi this Sunday, we are also beginning the three-year Eucharistic Revival, a national effort to invite, inspire, catechize, and renew our people in our love for the Lord in the Eucharist, to understand and believe more profoundly in the meaning and purpose of the Mass, to realize anew the depths of Christ’s love for us in the Blessed Sacrament.
Pentecost and making disciples
This Sunday’s celebration of Pentecost marks the second anniversary of the launching of Go Make Disciples, our diocesan effort to be renewed in the power of the Holy Spirit, to deepen the understanding and practice of our own Catholic faith, and to evangelize others with a joyous confidence.