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Of all the Feasts, Solemnities, Memorials or Ordinary Time Sundays that come up in the liturgical calendar, I do not think there is one more “Catholic” than the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ which we celebrate this weekend.  I use the big “C” in catholic as opposed to the small “c” as the big “C” means belonging to the Roman Catholic Church as opposed to the small “c” which means “all embracing, or universal”.  …

Imagine you are one of the disciples sitting at the table during the Last Supper.  As Jesus comes and takes his place at the table, things look like they do at every other Passover meal they have shared.  There is nothing that would suggest that this would be the last meal they would share together as a group.  Life can be, and often is, like that.  Today doesn’t look a whole lot different than yesterday and tomorrow will probably …

Well, that time of year again.  Lent is upon us.  And if you didn’t know that before you came here today, and you didn’t notice the change from green to purple in the environment of the church and in Fr. Phil’s ensemble.  Then the ultimate tip off would be the Gospel we just heard.  In the three-year cycle of the Lectionary, this is the only Sunday in the liturgical year that no matter what cycle we are in, Year A, B or C …

Throughout my life I have had many friends and acquaintances who have been loyal members of evangelical churches.  These people are faith filled and extremely committed to the teachings of their individual churches.  We have had many conversations over the years on the “taboo” topic of religion, and I have been blessed and enriched to learn of the faith principles that guide their lives.

One question that would often be posed to me, and to be honest, would …

Talk about a jampacked weekend.   Saturday we are celebrating the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God, and then right back to church on Sunday to celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord.  I would like to use this reflection to focus on Mary, and what a model of faith she is for all of us.

The Solemnity of Mary, from the church in Canada’s point of view, carries a great deal of importance as it is one …

Several years ago, I was approached by a student from Crandall University and asked to do an interview about what it was like to be Roman Catholic.  This young lady was doing a project for her Religious Studies class and wanted to see the similarities, and differences, between the Baptist tradition, in which she was raised, and Roman Catholicism.  In her work for her project, she came to mass every Sunday for a month, interviewed myself and a couple of others, …

“Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”     Mark 9: 37

Anyone who has ever come to church with young children in tow knows what a harrowing experience it can be for the parents.  Depending on their age, there can be all kinds of encouraging words spoken by the parents to the child(ren) on the journey to church to impress upon …

Whenever I have occasion to think back on my childhood, usually to share a story with my own children about “the good old days” and “the way things used to be”, one of my fondest memories is the smell of homemade bread cooking in the oven.  Many days I would arrive home from school to freshly baked loaves of bread coming out of the oven and cooling on the kitchen countertop.  As I think about it, I would happily …

“Whoever abides in me and I in them bears much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.”(John 15: 5); we hear these words from Jesus in our Gospel reading this week.  This is a lesson that is taking me a lifetime to learn, and in fact, is still a work in progress.  More the second part of the statement than the first, as I don’t think there is much to debate in the first part.  Having said …

Opening Questions

Have you ever been so mad at someone that you just wanted to do something, anything to get them back?

Do you have any special things you do to calm yourself down when you are upset?

Can you forgive someone who never told you they were sorry?

Two things really jump out at me when I hear the story that Lexie and Karen read for …