Dear Friends in Christ, August 6 is the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, that surrealistic scene in the Gospels where Jesus takes three of the apostles up a mountain, radiates a dazzling glow, and interacts with Moses and Elijah. It’s a mix of the extraordinary and the ordinary: ...

Dear Friends,     Not long ago, another priest and I watched an action-packed superhero movie at the movie theater; nothing too profound, we just wanted to relax. We saw the movie ‘Thunderbolts*.’  While there were numerous action scenes, the movie was far from what I expected [spoiler alert]. The central ...

Dear Friends,   Back when I was studying for my certificate in biblical studies, I came across a book written by the daughter of Abraham Heschel, a Rabbi, called The Sabbath. More than two decades later, there are parts of that text that still resurface in my memory. The Rabbi ...

Hello Everyone,    I will not fail you or forsake you… Be strong and of good courage…For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go (Joshua 1:6-9). I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; ...

Dear Friends in Christ,   July 1 is the feast day of St. Junípero Serra, the Franciscan priest who established missions in California, beginning in San Diego. Canonized in 2015, he was nonetheless vilified by recent critics who claim he mistreated native peoples. It’s always a tricky business to apply ...

Dear Friends,   Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, the child who “grew and became strong in the spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.” After all his years of preparation, John did not come ...

Dear Friends,   I reflected this past week on the passage in Mark’s Gospel that relates Jesus’ encounter with a woman who, for 18 years, had been crippled by a spirit, bent over completely, incapable of standing erect. Jesus saw her and laid his hands on her, and she at ...