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Today is St. Patrick’s Day! Most people think of this day as a time for wearing green, drinking green bear, eating corned beef and cabbage, and that’s about it (unless you’re Irish!). St. Patrick gets relatively little attention on his day, so I thought I might offer a few thoughts in his honor, including a prayer that is attributed to him.

The preface for the Mass at the start of Lent refers to this “Joyful Season.” Many of us are startled by this reference. For most, Lent has always been a season of sacrifice, of penance, a time when we focus on the Cross. As you look at the Cross, did you ever ask yourself the question, “Why did Jesus die like this?” If He had been a mere man, it would have made sense. He could not avoid it. He was up against impossible odds, and the cards were stacked against Him. But, it is different for the Son of God.

What is Lent all about? What is the passion and death of Christ all about? It could be summed up in one word, a well-used word, so well used that is has become trite. The word is love. Only love makes Christ believable. Only love makes sense out of Lent, out of the passion and death of Christ.

The Friday fish fry is a well-known and beloved New Orleans tradition with deep roots. While it is a popular Friday tradition all year long, it is especially popular during Lent. But where did this tradition come from? Why are we the keepers of the best Fish Fries? Well, besides being located on the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico, the answer is rooted in several parts including the Catholic Church and our city’s history of European immigration.

The Catholic Faith when it finds itself in a culture that does not know or has forgotten God, it does not castigate, but rather, Catholicism helps the culture to find Him. By finding seeds of goodness in what already exists, baptizing, and even preserving important holidays and cultural elements by imbuing them with new Christian meaning, Catholicism elevates and presents as a sacrifice to God the best elements and the Love of the people! Since “taking back” presents a valid method of restoring worthy traditions to God, let us call for and practice the re-Christianizing of the ancient Catholic tradition of Mardi Gras!

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. The holiday, which takes its name from multiple early Christian martyrs named Valentine, is now an overwhelmingly secular celebration, not to mention a highly profitable one for greeting card companies, chocolatiers, and florists. And there isn’t much in the way of a “Keep Valentine in Valentine’s Day” movement to restore its lost religious meaning.

Divine Mercy Parish is preparing to launch a Men’s Ministry group entitled That Man is You! That Man is You! honestly addresses the pressures and temptations that men face in our modern culture, especially those relating to their roles as husbands and fathers. The program harmonizes current social and medical science with the teachings of the Church and the wisdom of the saints to develop the vision of man fully alive!

The story is told that Albert Einstein met with his graduate students in Physics at Princeton University to provide them with their final examination. After distributing the exam, he walked out. His teaching assistant walked out with him. For a long time, there was silence and then his assistant said, “Excuse me Professor Einstein, but wasn’t that the same examination you gave last year? Even the same questions?” Einstein stopped, looked at his graduate assistant and said, “Yes, it is, but the answers have changed.”

In his Apostolic Letter Aperuit illis issued September 30, 2019, Pope Francis instituted the celebration of Sunday of the Word of God, which is held every year on the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time. In 2023, it will be celebrated this weekend, January 21st and 22nd. The purpose of this celebration of the Sunday of the Word of God is a very important reminder to all of us as Christians that the Scriptures are very important and integral in the development of our faith.

“So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?”   - Martin Luther King Jr.   The word “extremism” automatically generates negative connotations. When we think of extremists, especially in today’s world, we think of people and/or groups who hold ideologies that are deemed dangerous or hateful, leading to the kind of violence and injustice that have become so pervasive and prevalent. However, what if we practiced the kind of radical extremism that Jesus practiced, specifically in regards to love, peace, and justice? ...

“Amazing Grace” is a Christian hymn penned by the English poet and Anglican clergyman John Newton to accompany a sermon he preached on New Year’s Day, 1773. Over the last 250 years, it has become an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States where it is used for both religious and secular purposes. The text for the hymn is drawn from 1 Chronicles 17:16-17, in which King David responds to the prophet Nathan’s words that God intends to continue David’s royal line for eternity...

I am at the age now when New Year’s Eve finds me at home on the recliner, snacking on Hickory Farms cheese and summer sausage with a glass of wine waiting for the “ball to drop” on TV at midnight so that I can go to bed! This year will be no exception. Over the years, I listened to a dozen variations of the familiar “Auld Lang Syne” all night long, just wondering what in the world those lyrics mean? So, I recently put my iPhone to work “googling” the song and discovering that this poem was written by Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1788 and put to the music of a folk song, the actual origin of which remains the subject of debate. “Auld lang syne” is idiomatically and loosely translated “for the sake of days gone by.”

Rejoice! Our Savior is born! I wish you glad tidings as we approach the holiest and exultant day of the Lord’s Nativity! Christmas comes every year, even during moments of great difficulty. We only need to remember those who celebrate Christmas with a loved one at war, during times of illness, in times of unemployment, and when grieving the loss of a loved one. We also think of those who celebrate Christmas without a home or country, those who are alone, those who are victims of natural disasters, and those on the margins of society. Just as Christmas may occur during times of distress, so too does it offer us each year a message of joy, healing, and hope. This hope is rooted not in the human events of the day but in the eternal message of salvation. No difficulties or problems or worries can cancel the light, hope, and salvation that our Savior brings.

We make every day an anticipation for yet another, more profound, more transforming revelation. Although we have heard, and sung, and prayed the Advent message many times before, a pause, some quiet time of prayer, the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation all go a long way to “make all things new” … again … although the Advent and Christmas story are as old as the Church itself.

Our disposition and expectation as individual Catholics, as individual believers, truly influence and model the way in which our fellow parishioners as “communities of believers” look at Advent and incorporate its hope and excitement into their lives as Christmas approaches. 

The images of Isaiah, John the Baptist, and Mary figure so prominently in the Scriptures we read and hear during these few, fast weeks. We need to let the Word sink deeply into our minds, hearts, and souls. The hymns we have always sung and the Mass prayers we pray all fix our attention in faith upon the One who has come, is coming, and is yet to come, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is all about Him, everything we are and everything we do as Catholics...

The word “advent” comes from the Latin term adventus, literally meaning “coming to.” The four weeks of the season of Advent before Christmas create a unique season of hope-filled preparation for all of us in the Catholic Christian community — although it can easily be missed by society at large as simply an extended, early celebration of Christmas. True enough, Christ has come, and we should rejoice in His Incarnation every day of our lives. But Advent gives us all time for a prayerful “retelling” of the story of the “Hope of Israel.” We prepare ourselves for the commemoration of Christ’s coming in history in Bethlehem, His coming in mystery each day in the Church and the Sacraments, and His coming in majesty at the end of time.

The hauntingly talented novelist Flannery O’Connor died at the age of 39 in 1964. After her death, a journal she kept at age 21 was published. A journal entry referred to the slim crescent of the moon, the time during which we only see a sliver of the moon as it moves around the Earth. O’Connor poetically describes this phase as the shadow of the Earth blocking her from seeing the entire moon. This entry reflects her fear that her ego will be an all-consuming shadow, blocking light and good from entering her life.

The Lord said, “Whom shall I send and who will go for us” And I said “Here am I; send me. There is an oath that anyone entering any branch of the military takes.  It is the beginning of a long road to becoming a veteran. “I, John Doe, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same and I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me according to regulation and the uniform code of military justice, SO HELP ME GOD."

Dear Parishioners, As we celebrate National Vocation Awareness Week (November 6-12), it is inspiring to contemplate that God, our Creator, knows each of us personally and has a plan for our lives. The most important calling we have is to our vocation: marriage, the priesthood, consecrated life, diaconate, or some other path. To my dear friends in Christ discerning their vocation, I encourage you to focus on using your talents at the service of the Lord to become more like Him and bring Him to others. If you live more closely to Our Lord, in prayer and service, His will for your life will become clearer...