Professing the faith-being Catholic-is a rich and complex thing. People who have been Catholics all their lives still find themselves discovering new depths in their faith, and people who become Catholic in adulthood often find themselves moving into a new world in which things previously familiar take on a whole new light and meaning. Those who profess the Catholic faith have a particular mindset, which I like to call “thinking Catholic.” It is a mindset that includes attitudes about the world, about the people around them, about possessions, prayer and spiritual maturity that all grow …

No doubt when Martin uttered that quote as a man of faith he believed times would get better. Now fast-forward forty plus years into the future and the practice still flourishes. Not being a part of the inner circle, I’m not quite sure when it became both acceptable and appropriate to nurture and stroke the egos of individuals that practice man’s inhumanity to man. I can assure you it was done without my permission. We are about to enter into the Lenten Season. Since hunger and homelessness fall under the heading of man’s inhumanity to …

Psalm 84:3 My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the Lord. My heart and flesh cry out for the living God. As a former radio news journalist I truly love to write…it’s just now I get to write about what I’m really passionate about: God’s unconditional love. While I had great enjoyment in serving the people of the Cincinnati area as a radio news anchor…my soul soon got buried and numbed by the avalanche of bad news. It was a matter of time before God would convince me that there was another place …

The unveiling of the iPad was a technological “burning bush” experience for many people. Not just tech wizards and geeks but ordinary folks approached the technological revolution with a sense of awe that near rivals Moses’ bare foot moment. Finally, the prospect of being liberated from the slavery to space and weighty gadgets to the promised land of unrestricted and seamless communication seemed possible. Unlike the two tablets with which Moses descended the mountain numerous tablets have since descended upon the global scene. I was not among those wizards, geeks and even ordinary folk that …

You have your own favorite Ash Wednesday story, no doubt. Mine involves a city Metro bus. In any town, on Main Street is a good place for a Catholic church to be. There are multiple advantages: presence, curb appeal, access, visibility, passing traffic – all those and more. Add on the relaxed nature of the small town of Milford, and the location of St. Andrew is about as good as it can get. Anyway, on to my Ash Wednesday story. Standing near the sidewalk outside church after the noon Mass on Ash Wednesday, I heard …

The beginning of this blog coincides with the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Here are some of my thoughts as we embark on this holy season. The weeks of Lent originated as a preparation time for those about to be baptized at Easter. Lent’s baptismal focus has been recovered as the final preparation for the elect, but it also serves as a reminder to all of us who are already baptized of our commitment to follow Jesus. “The Lenten liturgy disposes both catechumens and the faithful to celebrate the paschal mystery: catechumens, through the …

This year my birthday fell on Fat Tuesday. I was excited and felt a little deserving of this timing because a couple of times it has fallen on Ash Wednesday, and let me tell you – hearing “You are dust and to dust you shall return” on your birthday is not a bit festive. To be reminded of sin and ashes is not cheery either. A call to conversion is a great thing, and don’t get me wrong – I genuinely love Lent – just not on my birthday. On my birthday I want abundance …

Lent is a good time to reflect on charity and the divine “fiats” asked of us – even if it’s 5:45 in the morning. Mary had her fiat moment – her time to say “yes” or “no” to God. When the Angel Gabriel appeared to her and asked whether she would become the Mother of God, she had the choice in that moment to accept or decline. She, of course, gave her fiat, her “yes,” and the future of man was changed forever into eternity. We all have these moments – when God presents us …

When I was growing up, being Catholic meant being different from those around me. I went to Catholic school, to Church every Sunday, had alternate “free days” like the feast of Immaculate Conception and Ascension Thursday and didn’t eat meat on Fridays and on and on. The season of Lent was likewise: we Catholics came home from Church with ashes on our foreheads. We didn’t eat meat at all except on Sunday and the adults “fasted” all of Lent except on Sunday. Everyone gave up something for Lent: kids candy and sweets, adults smoking, television …

“What are you giving up for Lent?” Every year this seems to be the most asked question (and perhaps the most debated) of the late winter or early spring. When I was very young and in Catholic grade school we were told that we should give up something that would be a real sacrifice. Saying that we would give up liver and onions was not going to work. We had to give up chocolate or soda, potato chips or biting my nails – true sacrifices of youth. As I entered my teenage years, especially after …