Living Monstrance

Several years ago, I got a phone call from a great friend of mine.  We became best friends in college and have kept in touch pretty regularly, even though he lives with his wife in New Jersey and I am in Boston.  Well this night he was filling me in on what had happened to [...]

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My mother has a giant Divine Mercy image in her room right now.  She is so happy that it’s there, and since it first arrived, she has been very excited about it.
On one of the first days that it was there, she said to me, “You know, that picture is life-size.  If you walk up [...]

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Before I left for Maryland last August to begin with the Franciscans, I had a large image of the Divine Mercy that I wanted to give away.  I had it framed and given to my local parish.  When I came back in February, I looked around the church and didn’t notice it so I asked the [...]

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St. Francis’ love for God drew him to relate very personally to all of God’s creation.  He even called his own body “Brother Donkey”.  He disciplined Brother Donkey consistently, and he was seemed to be denying it many things.  Now, why did he choose the name donkey for his body?  And why was he always [...]

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As a Minister of Holy Communion in the hospital, I had the privilege to visit many people who came from all types of backgrounds and were in all types of situations.  I would see joy, sorrow, pain, relief, the whole gamut of emotions it seems.  But the greatest sadness I ever saw was from a [...]

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Right now, my mother has been at home struggling with cancer.  There have been ups and downs, good and bad, but we are all making it, and the Lord is doing great things in our midst.
One of the problems we face is her eating.  Her appetite hasn’t been good, so we have to be creative [...]

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Isn’t it true that everyone wants to be someone, but no one wants to be a no one?  We sort of think that way, that we must be a “one” and not a “zero”, not a nothing.  We are supposed to be all that we can be, a fulfilled, satisfied “someone”.
Aren’t we?
I think that when [...]

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I taught CCD to sixth-graders for a year.  It is a great privilege to be in a classroom teaching young ones about God, and it is a place where God does great things.
Now, let’s face it: Catholic education in America, and in Boston, is not what you would call top notch.  When you teach CCD, [...]

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