Who’s yours? You know, the relative, distant or near, who is an unending source of embarrassment or shame for “the family”? Everybody’s got one, maybe two. The great, great, great uncle who was a horse thief, the cousin twice removed…
Your Unspeakable Kin
Evangelizing with St. Nicholas
One of the challenges in the parish where I work is families seeing the value in coming together with other families and doing something for others. I have tried a few things in the past and they were not very…
The Christmas Story’s Best Supporting Actor
Readings for December 22, 2013: Fourth Sunday of Advent In the drama of the incarnation, Jesus is, of course, the star. That’s the way it is at every birth. All eyes are on the baby. The co-star, though, is definitely…
Santa and the Baptizer
Advent is the season of preparation. Four weeks of tending our spiritual house, cleaning our spiritual closets, and dusting off our commitment to our faith in anticipation of Christmas. Christmas, the day we celebrate in Christ’s birth. We celebrate because…
The ART of Giving: Samples of the ARTwork
The Art of Giving donation opportunity to help needy children is still going on. My two daughters contributed artwork for the cause and I thought I would share them with you here. Here is Katie’s drawing of St. Joseph with…
Come to Me
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened. (Matthew 11:28) This Advent has provided me with a unique opportunity. While the world has been frantically focusing on shopping, decorating, and pushing the Christmas season out of the door…
Evangelization through Handel
Every December thousands of people flock to hear orchestras and choirs perform Handel’s Messiah. These performances are extremely popular, often sold-out. And when you think about it—the popularity is a little bit surprising. I mean, Messiah is Scripture set to…
Rejoice in Hope
Readings for December 15, 2013: Third Sunday of Advent Moses’ mission had taken him quite a distance . . . from the splendor of Pharaoh’s palace, to a stroll through the Red Sea, to wrestling with Israel’s stubbornness for forty…
Four Ways Catholic Churches Differ from Other Christian Churches
Last month I gave four one-hour presentations at Our Lady of the Rosary Parish here in Greenville, S.C. I’m the architect for their new church, and Fr. Longenecker asked me to speak after each Sunday Mass in November about how…
What I Learned from the Year of Faith
The Year of Faith officially ended with coming of Advent this year. It was brought to us by Pope Benedict XVI and was a communal reflection for the whole Catholic Church. It was an opportunity for spiritual renewal, particularly in…