Many mornings, I'll try my luck with the online puzzles that the New York Times provides: the crossword, Wordle, the Sudoku. The one I actually enjoy the most is called Spelling Bee. They give us seven letters and challenge us to build words. They have some rules about the words. They have to be in English usage. I'd argue that "penne" is an Italian word, even though the Times counts it as English. I'd also argue that "goal" is an English word, but the Times says no to that one. But the word that always gets rejected is the word "nove...

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Saturday evening, the Vigil of Pentecost, we hear (or heard) Jesus speak about the Spirit “on the last and greatest day of the feast.” With Pentecost, we reach a milestone. We’ve kept 50 days of Easter joy. We’ve arrived at the moment that began with the preparations for Lenten fasting and prayer. We’ve celebrated the Lord’s death and resurrection. We’ve baptized new believers. We’ve welcomed children to the Lord’s table for the first time. Today we confirm our young people. It feels like we’ve done a lot. Time ...

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Many of you use books like Magnificat or The Word Among Us. I know you appreciate how they help you to follow the readings and prayers at Mass, both weekdays and Sundays. But, once in a while, we come to days when they just don’t seem to work. The readings we hear at Mass aren’t the ones printed in the magazine! What goes on here? Did the publishers print the wrong texts? Did the lector (or even the priest) turn the wrong page? The answer: None of the above. Some days in the church’s year allow a number of options. Publishers of books like The Word A...

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The other weekend, Deacon McCarroll opened his homily with some commentary on the names that the Sunday after Easter has been given over the centuries. Maybe, as he suggested, it might seem rather liturgical nerdy stuff. But the other morning, I happened to listen to a podcast where people were talking about the name of Easter itself! So, let’s take at what the names are and what they mean. First of all, what you call Easter (and it’s not just the Sunday, but the 50 days of Easter that will end this year on June 7) depends on where you live, what language you...

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Think of this irony. In 1924, Al Smith, Governor of New York, lost in the US presidential election. Among the reasons: he was a Catholic, and many feared a Catholic presidency would merely be a “pipeline to the Pope.” Just slightly over 100 years later, against all the prophecies and predictions that it couldn’t happen, an American was elected as Bishop of Rome, Pope Leo XIV. Amongst all the chatter of the past couple of weeks—his Chicago origins, the Villanova years, the Augustinians, the mission work in Peru, his mother’s Creole heritag...

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Today is… I know, you’ve expected me to say “Mother’s Day,” and you’d be right. We’re grateful for the women who gave us birth, who nurtured our lives and our faith. We pray for them—the living and the dead. But today’s also the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. And I’d be remiss—we’d be remiss— if we didn’t pay attention to this day when we ask the Good Shepherd to bring us shepherds to continue his work with his flock. Just as we need mothers to give and sustain human life, we need...

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Last spring, Deacon McCarroll created a poster—a picture of his face superimposed on an image of Uncle Sam. “Deacon McCarroll Needs You to be a Eucharistic Minister!” That silly image worked. You responded, and we’ve had communion ministers to help at weekend Masses.I don’t have a fun poster for you. But I have a need. It’s not really my need exactly. It comes from Jesus, the Jesus who said (and will one day again say): “I was hungry and you gave me to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me to drink. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” People...

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Part of our work for our upcoming linkage between St. Ann and St. Boniface Parishes was creating a new Mass schedule. You read a little bit about that two weeks ago when we described the work of our transition teams from the two parishes. Now it’s time to talk about the results. But first, a little bit about the process. Between St. Ann Parish and St. Boniface Parish, we currently have 7 weekend Masses (3 on Saturday evening, 4 on Sunday morning). In addition, we have 9 weekday Masses between us.   While we’re promised a second priest in July, we&...

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Did you notice where the gospel ended today? It didn’t feel like the conclusion of other stories, did it? We didn’t hear the words “…and they lived happily ever after”! Instead, at the Easter Vigil, the gospel ended, “Their story seemed like nonsense, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, bent down, and saw the burial cloths alone; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.” Hardly the happy ending we might have expected. Then this morning we hear John’s account ending with the words:...

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We’ve come to a busy week.  A Holy Week for the Church.   And not just a Holy Week because these things happened to Jesus of Nazareth almost 2000 years ago. A Holy Week because our celebration builds up our faith and strengthens us for our witness to the world. And it only works if we show up! Let’s think about the moments when we need especially to be Church this week: Holy Thursday.  Our celebration of the Lord’s death and resurrection begins with the 7 pm Mass, the Mass that recalls the beginning of Christ’s Passion, his gift ...

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