Have you ever sat in mass and prayed really hard – “please God, please. Let this be over soon!” Somewhere between the grumpy greeter, the off-key cantor, the lackluster homily and your own unenthusiastic recitation of the Creed, you realize that there’s something terribly wrong with this picture. I don’t want to be here! Is ...read more

In the past week, I’ve been trying to imagine what our world would be like had Jesus never been born. (Check out part 1 and part 2) It’s easy to say that The Church would not exist or that we would have no Pope. There would be no priests, deacons, religious sisters or brothers, nor ...read more

Men dressed as the “Three Wise Men” present gifts to a baby playing the part of Jesus during the annual Epiphany parade through central Burgos, Spain,  Jan. 5, 2012. Traditionally, children in Spain receive their Christmas presents on the morning of Jan. 6, delivered by the “Three Wise Men.” CNS photo/Felix Ordonez, Reuters ...read more

Pope Francis announces twenty new Cardinals during Sunday Angelus – January 4, 2015 At the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis announced the names of fifteen Archbishops and Bishops whom he will raise to the dignity of the Cardinalate on February 14, 2015. In addition, the Holy Father announced that five retired Archbishops and Bishops “distinguished ...read more

Last time, I was imagining a world without Christmas. That would mean no Christmas music and no Christmas movies.  But a world without Jesus would mean much more to our popular culture. After watching the screen adaptation of Les Miserables two years ago,  I couldn’t help but thinking that this novel would be very different had Jesus not ...read more

With New Year’s around the corner and another year ahead of us it’s about that time when we begin to mull over our New Year’s resolutions. Each year we set out to reform our lives in the hopes that next year will be happier than the last. …And each year we struggle with trying to ...read more

While I dislike having to listen to Christmas music as early as November 25th, I do like that once a year radio stations all over don’t seem to have a problem playing music that mentions the name of Jesus or that glorifies God. This year, listening to Christmas music early in December I found myself ...read more

In 2007 I was a fresh-faced reporter at a diocesan newspaper. My editor assigned me to write a piece on the history of the nativity scene. I tracked down a priest and professor of church history and set off interview him about the history of the nativity scene. I did not do a Google search ...read more

In the Jubilee Year of 2000, John Paul II made a very insightful statement.  He said: “Our Christian witness would be hopelessly inadequate if we ourselves had not first contemplated the face of the Lord.”  The same might be said of our fully entering into the Christmas season. Christmas is a time in which we ...read more

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