Last week I joined my brother priests and the bishops of our archdiocese down in Ocean Shores for our annual priest convocation or 'Priest Days'. For about three days, we come together for prayer, presentations, and fellowship. Spread apart as we are in our archdiocese - from the border of Canada to the border of Oregon! - this is, for the majority of us, the only occasion we have to be together, catch up after a year apart, and get to know priests new to the archdiocese (or just new to us!). Just the most lovely greeting from Sacred Heart Radio as we drove into Aberdeen! This is also the second year of Partners in the Gospel, which has been a challenging one for every Catholic in our archdiocese - but especially so (I would assert) for...

This weekend we celebrated the (transferred) solemnity of the Ascension. The Church proclaims that in ascending above the highest heavens, Jesus did not do so to distance Himself from our lowly state (to which He has united to Himself) but so that we, His members, might be confident of following where He, our Head and Founder, has gone before. These words - proclaimed in the collect and preface of the Mass - remind us that rather than being a moment of loss, it is celebration of the joyful promise of what is to come. That understanding, it seems to me, is hard-won among Christians. For the Apostles standing below, their hearts must have been torn (and how!) beween confusion and sadness. Having made it through three days of sorrow and loss...

When the world gets to be too crazy, I often find myself taking refuge in great stories. One of the great authors of such a story - no less personage than J.R.R. Tolkien himself - wrote a full essay on this phenomenon titled On Fairy-Stories. It is well worth reading, but a point he makes there that I find most arresting is the idea that, when we are struggling to encounter them in the real world, virtue can not only be encountered in stories but can (re)inspire the reader to bring that virtue from the realm of the imagination back into real life. In one of his letters, Tolkien also talks about this connection of the imaginative to the real, and their mutual orientation to the final - I daresay eternal! - victory: “Actually I am a...

It is the eve of the eve of the Triduum, with the end of Lent practically upon us and the beginning of an even deeper entrance into & meditation on the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus - the world behind us, the cross before us. In parishes around the world and here in our parish family, there are so many opportunities for prayer, reflection, and worship. I hope you'll join in some or even all of them! There's Tenebrae tomorrow evening, Lauds (Morning Prayer) each day of the Triduum, the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper, Tre Ore and Good Friday celebration of the Passion of the Lord, and of course, the Easter celebrations starting with the most glorious Mass of the year, the Holy Saturday vigil. For those who are here...

Happy Lent! Today marks the final day of the last full week of the season. With the celebration of Palm Sunday, we enter into Holy Week and soon, the Triduum celebrations of Christ's passion, death, and resurrection. Over this last week - traditionally called Passiontide (which is why we cover images, statues, and the crucifix) - I have been struck by the coming together of several mysteries and celebrations of our faith. The first was this Wednesday, March 25 - the solemnity of the Annunciation - a full nine months (not a coincidence!) before the celebration of the Nativity of the Lord. One of my favorite readings is from a homily In Praise of the Virgin Mother by Saint Bernard in the Office of Readings on December 20, which I think...

Happy Solemnity of Saint Joseph! Today was my first day back in the office after vacation and my annual retreat. I have loads of emails and voicemails backlogged alongside various things needing done in preparation of Holy Week & Easter as well as in the long-term (think Partners in the Gospel). As the day played out, various and sundry unexpected things popped up. As the day draws to a close, I realized that I had missed an opportunity to join my prayers to those of Saint Joseph: "Lord, I had plans!" That said, today HAS been pretty awesome, with Mass for the solemnity bookending the day. To boot, I discovered a neat tradition that I got to share at tonight's reception at the Mass at Saint Joseph (celebrating their patron): Pane di...

This week I am away on my annual retreat. In your kindness, please pray for me during this time of prayer & reflection - know of my prayers for you! Saints & celebrations March 8 - Saint John of God - The devil loves to whisper the lie that we are too broken, too fallen to be redeemed - much less become saints! John's story breaks through that lie with a shining example of howeven a rough-and-tumble mercenary (of 18 years, no less) - was chosen by the Lord to become something greater...by embracing humility & poverty, no less! Learn more about him at Catholic Insight. March 9 - Saints Forty Martyrs of Sebaste - Soldiers from all different countries, today's saints not only together refused to make sacrifice to Roman gods, but...