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" God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses." (Acts 2:32) It's decision-making time for you and I.  These words of Peter, quoted in the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, force us to acknowledge, or disavow our standing as Christians.  We simply can no longer sit on the fence of Christianity.   We have to face this question:   "Do I believe that Jesus was raised from the dead?" Foundational to that question is the belief that Jesus is God, that he actually lived and died, and that there were people who walked the earth when he did who witnessed all that he said and did.  If you are not sure about all of this, then it is worth your time and effort to begin a serious investigation into these facts.   It is not enough to glide through life uncertain.  You either know it to be true, seek to find out if it is true, or dismiss it altogether. Let's say you conclude that it's all true, that Jesus is God, that he died and was resurrect

Something was said, I don't exactly remember what, that led me to this thought on Good Friday . . . There are times when I desperately miss my mom, who died almost three years ago.  I want to talk to her.  I have things to tell her.  I want to hear her voice and hug her.  This ache comes without my solicitation.   So on Good Friday, I wondered, "Why don't I have this same sense of sadness when it comes to Jesus' death?" Did our saints long for him like I long for my mom? Shouldn't I? These questions flooded my head.  I can only think that such a longing must begin with an intimate, personal relationship that is grounded in love. I think the difficulty for us is that we are sensate human beings.  We process everything through our senses.  My mom, for instance, was visible to me every day of my life, a physical presence whom I could hug, whereas I cannot reach out and hug Jesus. But let me back up just a bit.  We can have a personal relationship with

Easter Sunday is a very big deal. It's "the greatest of all Sundays," since it's when we celebrate our Lord's resurrection. Begin celebrating, actually. The Easter season lasts until Pentecost Sunday: not quite two months from now. Maybe "our Lord's resurrection" sounds routine, familiar, two millennia after that post-Passover surprise. But let's remember that the 12 Apostles, make that 11 after Judas Iscariot killed himself, and everyone else close to Jesus expected him to stay dead. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

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The Resurrection of Christ Rembrandt [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings ,  Easter Vigil   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)   Readings ,  Easter Sunday   (Jerusalem Bible) Readings ,  Easter Vigil   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings ,  Easter Sunday   (New American Bible) Gospel ,  Easter Vigil  Luke 24:1-12  ( English Standard Version Anglicised: India)    On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.   And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,   but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.   While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.   And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?   He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galil

A friend just sent me a link about a current petition drive in Michigan to get a vote on our November ballot for an amendment to our constitution which would allow for "an unlimited right to abortion." Please do not be fooled into signing the "Reproductive Freedom for All" petition, which is an attempt to bring abortion back to Michigan, should Roe vs. Wade ever be overturned. As usual, the deceptive naming of the petition drive uses catch phrases like "Reproductive" and "Freedom" to elicit our emotions using highly charged language.  It is the same way so many were duped so many years ago when abortion first became legal. Freedom is something we hold dear, so this kind of language makes us think, "Who wouldn't want freedom?" But God gave us free will to choose good .  The taking of a human life through abortion is a choice that goes against everything we know to be good and true.   There is no question that abortion is a

  Fr Owen Doyle 28 June 1934 - 13 April 2022 Another Columban priest died peacefully last Sunday afternoon, Fr Owen Doyle. He spent most of his life as a priest in Korea. Please remember him in your prayers. Father Owen's obituary is  here . He was the fifth Columban here in St Columban's, Dalgan Park, to die within 16 days. May they all rest in peace. Please keep our community in your prayers. Grave of Bishop Edward Galvin, Co-founder of the Columbans St Columban's Cemetery, Dalgan Park, Ireland

  The Sacred Paschal Triduum Tréan Naofa na Cásca Thursday of the Lord's Supper Déardaoin Shéire an Tiarna Christ Washing the Feet of His Disciples (detail) Tintoretto [ Web Gallery of Art ] Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God,   rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it round his waist.   Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped round him   (John 13:3-5, ESVUK).  Ó bhí a fhios ag Íosa go raibh gach uile ní tugtha isteach ina lámha dó, ag an Athair, agus gur ó Dhia a ghabh sé amach, agus gur ar Dhia a bhí a thriall,  d'éirigh sé ón suipéar, agus leag sé uaidh a chuid éadaigh, agus cheangail sé tuáille faoina choim.  Ansin chuir sé uisce sa bháisín agus thosaigh ag ní cosa na ndeisceabal agus á dtiormú leis an tuáille a bhí faoina choim (Eoin 13:3-5, ABN). The Last Supper

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(From Gustave Doré, via Library of Congress, used w/o permission.) I'll be talking about ADHD, PDD, PTSD, ASD and me; and what that alphabet-soup assortment of acronyms means. But first, a spot of poetry. "...Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had tried to borrow From my books surcease of sorrow—sorrow for the lost Lenore—...." (" The Raven ," Edgar Allen Poe (1884) via Wikipedia) Fast-forward 35 years — More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I know I probably shouldn't be writing about this, but I was surprised at how the incident made me feel, and, well, writing is what I do, especially when I get stirred up about something. A couple of years ago I was trying to be friendly to a neighbor I didn't really know.  He was building something behind the fence in his yard.  I inquired about it and he told me it was a dog run.  I thought that was kind of a weird answer, since it was a big, fenced in area. I later find out that he lied to me because he had been creating a marijuana garden. Then, just the other day, we noticed he had a pellet gun and he was shooting up in his tree, while his dog was going crazy running around.  The man followed a squirrel from tree to tree, trying to shoot it. The dog, you see, had treed the squirrel earlier and one can only conclude that our neighbor was trying to shoot the squirrel out of the tree so his dog could have it.  (This is the same dog that tore apart a poor squirrel

  Palm Sunday, East Timor [ Wikipedia ;  photo ] Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) The gospel for the procession with palms is included here as is the Passion according to St Luke arranged for reading by   N. Narrator.  ✠  Jesus. O. Other single speaker. C. Crowd, or more than one speaker. Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) The gospel for the procession with palms is included here as is the shorter form of the Passion according to St Luke, Luke 23:1-49. Gospel   for procession of Palms  Luke 19:28-40  ( English Standard Version Anglicised: India)    When Jesus had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.   When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples,   saying,  “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here.   I

  Fr Aodh Eamonn O'Halpin 31 January 1934 - 2 April 2022 Please pray for the soul of Fr Aodh Eamonn O'Halpin who died peacefully in our nursing home here in Ireland last Saturday, 2 April. He spent the early years of his missionary priesthood in Mindanao, Philippines, and later worked in Ireland before spending many years on mission in Britain. The name 'Aodh', an old Irish name sometimes used as an equivalent for 'Hugh', is pronounced like the letter 'A' in the English alphabet. Father Aodh's obituary is on the website of the Columbans in Ireland  here . The Deer's Cry (St Patrick's Breastplate) Sung by Rita Connolly In his will Father Aodh asked that this be played at his funeral. Fr Daniel O'Gorman 4 March 1932 - 3 April 2022 Father Dan worked for many years in Korea, arriving there in 1957 when it was still devastated after the Korean War. In his latter years in Ireland he was of great help to Columbans who were sick until he himself

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Did you play a prank on someone today?  I didn't.  Not because I don't think it would be fun, but mostly because I am not that imaginative.  Do people do that anymore on April Fools Day? I started wondering about where this tradition came from, but I found that the various ideas about its origins are too many and too elaborate to detail here.  Suffice it to say that a number of them had to do with making fun of, or a fool, out of someone. My two contemporary favorites, which I found on history.com are these: " In 1996, Taco Bell, the fast-food restaurant chain, duped people when it announced it had agreed to purchase Philadelphia’s Liberty Bell and intended to rename it the Taco Liberty Bell. In 1998, after Burger King advertised a “Left-Handed Whopper,” scores of clueless customers requested the fake sandwich." Aren't those funny?  And pretty harmless, too.  But I think the best one I read about goes like this: "In 1957, the BBC reported that Swis

One of my daily prayer requests is for help in praying against discouragement.  I suspect I am not alone in this.  When you work in church ministry, that request takes on a particular urgency, because if discouragement wins the day, it might be time to go into a new line of work . I use the term "work" loosely when talking about church ministry, however, because, as some of you no doubt know, it really is vocational, which is an entirely different beast. One might be tempted to think that when you work in a church, everyone floats as if walking on a heavenly cloud.  Kindness overwhelms every situation and words flow from divine inspiration.  Oh, if that were only true!  In fact, unfortunately, it has been my experience that vocational work in a church can sometimes be more challenging than you would experience in the secular world!  What is not to be missed, however, is that such purposeful work--while at times challenging--is most rewarding.  To be able to walk

Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery   Rembrandt   [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   John 8:1-11  ( English Standard Version Anglicised: India)    Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.   Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them.   The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst   they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.   Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?”   This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground.   And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them,  “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw