What Is Lent?

  What is Lent? The Collect for Ash Wednesday Mass gives us the answer: “Grant, O Lord, that we may begin with holy fasting this campaign of Christian service, so that, as we take up battle against spiritual evils, we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint.” This...
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Keep Praying

    The Church of the Holy Family, where I serve as pastor, is in midtown Manhattan, across the street from the United Nations campus. The church is open Monday to Friday from 7 AM to 6 PM. Day in and day out, I am impressed to see the many people who come in to pray...
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Rested and Ready

  Summer is a good time to reflect upon Our Lord’s words to his busy disciples: “‘Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.” (Mark 6:31) This reminds me of how the Marine Staff Sergeant...
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Against Sudden Death

  In the Great Litany one finds the following petition: “From lightning and tempest; from plague, pestilence, and famine; from battle and murder, and from sudden death, Good Lord deliver us.” Why is “sudden death” in this list? What is wrong with sudden death? Most people...
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The Rosary: A Powerful Instrument

  When we pray on a daily basis, we fulfill God’s intention that we be united to him in thought and affection. Prayer is the fruit of our love for the One who made us and redeemed us. Prayer is a kind of conversation with God: We speak to him using either set prayers or...
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On Opening Up This Summer

  Now that the COVID-19 crisis is rapidly subsiding due to widespread vaccinations and the increasing likelihood of herd immunity, people are returning to socializing. How refreshing it is to be with old and new friends at parties, sports events, and in church. Man is a...
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Now Is the Time to Pray

  Allow me to refocus the conversation a bit. After what our nation has gone through these past few weeks, we all could use a little break from politics. Let’s celebrate that we now have Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh on the U.S. Supreme Court, but let’s maintain a...
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