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St. Joseph, Our Teacher

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As priests, we have a lot to learn from St. Joseph. Indeed, we should seek to imitate the virtues he exemplified. Let’s consider just a few. We can learn from Joseph’s silence. It may seem odd that we, who have the ministry of preaching and teaching, should find silence a virtue to imitate. But an Read More

A Light in the Desert

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We survive many deserts as priests. Lent becomes an invitation to explore them, to turn over the rocks we find there, to sift through the debris and face the sun. Our deserts are varied and sometimes overwhelming. Lent invites us to gaze at them with tender hearts and with great fortitude and phenomenal surrender. These Read More

Small but Mighty

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Small group ministry is becoming more popular in parishes across the United States, as it provides the faithful with an opporunity to deepen their sense of community within a parish and to deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ. And while the details vary from diocese to diocese and even parish to parish, the concept remains Read More

Money Matters

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Understanding basic finances is important for Catholic priests, both in carrying out their governance as pastors and administrators and in dealing with their own personal finances. Managing a parish’s finances can be challenging. According to a recent study as many as a quarter of all parishes operate at a loss and 8 percent require a Read More

Taking Mary as Our Mother

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There is an intimate connection between Mary and priests — one that deeply can enrich one’s priesthood. But is there any scriptural support for this connection? Might the Bible offer any practical insights for priests on how to live their priesthood more in union with Our Lady? When considering this question in the 2009 Year Read More

Lessons from St. Thomas Aquinas

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Entering the theological world of St. Thomas Aquinas can be like stepping into a dauntingly vast and variegated universe, not unlike how meeting St. Augustine, Dante or Shakespeare can be. Certainly St. Thomas presents unique challenges, being one of history’s greatest geniuses, who also was given to mystical experiences. Then there is the matter of Read More

The Gift of Gratitude

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If the joy of the Gospel is like a majestic river flowing through the Church, then its main tributary is gratitude. Gratefulness is the habit of a grace-filled life. A grateful priest is a joyful priest, and these two virtues are inseparable. From them emerges an atmosphere of appreciation for all that is and for Read More

Friends in High Places

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It is not uncommon to find friendships within the Communion of Saints. There are stories of saintly siblings like Sts. Benedict and Scholastica, who spent the night before the latter’s death engaged in a conversation of the heart about the things of faith. Or others come to mind, like the spiritual friendship of immigrant American Read More

St. John of the Cross

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In our secular society spirituality is often overlooked or not given its just due especially when we experience the loss of loved ones. From the faith perspective we need to help the bereaved to place their loss into the context of faith. By so doing we can help the grief-stricken to move forward and grow Read More

Advent Is Important

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Every December, we priests fight the good fight. We try to guide our people toward an observance of Advent. The liturgical season has a certain starkness about it, and this is fitting. It is the time when the Church calls us to prayer and penance in preparation, not simply for the coming of Dec. 25 Read More