“With Jesus, for Jesus, to Jesus.  Jesus, come into my heart.  Pray in me and with me that I may learn from you how to pray”.

Sunday, November 1 is the Solemnity of All Saints. We celebrate the saints with this special feast for their response to the Lord’s call to live the beatitudes we hear in the Gospel today. Blessed indeed are the “clean of heart, for they will see God.” In the first reading from Revelation we learn that “salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.” 

Blessed Michael J. McGivney was “an outstanding witness of Christian solidarity and fraternal assistance” because of his “zeal” for proclaiming the Gospel and his “generous concern for his brothers and sisters,” Pope Francis said in his apostolic letter of beatification of the founder of the Knights of Columbus.

The saints are not really like you and me. But Father Michael McGivney comes very close, and for that reason, he will be an attractive patron for parish priests.

After disappearing from most theological and philosophical think tanks of the modern era, the questions related to angelology have recently made a comeback in the West through postmodern spiritual movements like the New Age.

"Let your light so shine before the people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew: 5:16)

In a time of a global pandemic that has killed almost 200,000 Americans, civil unrest in the streets, and an economy in tatters, I have been blessed with the opportunity to share my thoughts with you during this unique time in history. I decided to contribute to this blog in the form of a personal letter to each of you. 

We live in times in which many call good or "no big deal" what God calls sinful.  This is especially true in the area of sexuality, where whole sectors of our society not only tolerate but even celebrate sexual practices that the Scriptures call gravely sinful, and which will lead to Hell if not repented of.  Acts of fornication (pre-marital sex) and homosexual acts cannot be considered acceptable by any Catholic or by any person who sincerely accepts the Scripture as the Word of God.  And even for those who do not share our faith, acts of fornication and homosexual acts can be plainl

I urge you to have ever greater confidence in God, for it is written that those who trust in him will never be forsaken.

Such a simple commandment Jesus puts before the Pharisees and ourselves today. We ask their question too: what is the greatest commandment of God, what single law is of the greatest consequence? However do we really understand the unintended consequences of what Jesus actually says? In plain speech it seems simple enough: "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time