I was struck by the pressures and anxieties experienced by young people today, and by the number of times the speakers tried to convince them to believe in God’s personal, unconditional love. I started to wonder why this message was being repeated with such insistence. It seemed a little cheesy. Doesn’t God’s love go without saying?

We have just celebrated the Rite of Election in Pueblo, and I am now on a prior scheduled retreat with brother bishops in Florida.  These Rites will be completed in Durango and Grand Junction upon my return, and I wish to share some thoughts about their significance. 

This Wednesday we shall take the ashes in the form of the cross on our forehead.  We begin the forty days of Lent with the reminder of our mortality, as dust unto dust, and our salvation, the cross of Jesus Christ.  The symbolism is powerful. 

We have experienced the blessings of the Nativity, the Holy Family and the Epiphany, and now, with the Baptism of Jesus, we move into Ordinary Time.  In a few weeks, we will be entering the season of Lent. Although we will be given hints of what lies ahead for Jesus and for those who are his disciples, during this interim period our readings invite us to reflect on what it means to encounter him and become his disciple. 

The time for interior reflection is here.  The Sunday liturgical readings reveal Jesus calling his disciples, preparing for the road ahead. 

In his first public Exhortation, Delixit te--- I Have Loved You, Pope Leo has announced the foundation of his papacy, a renewal of our commitment to our relationship with Jesus Christ. 

A poem about the two opposite reactions to the vicissitudes of life--despair and hope.

We have traveled the journey of Lent, and Holy Week shines before us, with a shining, both dark and light, comprising the purpose of the life of Christ. Jesus is to be betrayed, judged, and scourged; a cross will be imposed. 

Ash Wednesday comes next week, and we are preparing for Lenten observances in our parishes.

The liturgical cycle has brought us into another new year.  The Gospels for the past two weeks present Jesus as God wishes Him to be seen

We are well into Advent.  Our Blessed Mother, in luminous celebration as Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Immaculate Conception, is watching...

I offer this story, not knowing its provenance, as told to me by my Uncle Bishop Joe after he ordained me to the priesthood 25 years ago. 

We now approach the fourth Sunday of Lent.  We may have been faithful to our Lenten observances, and we may have wavered.  As we follow...

With winter comes a respite for some hopeful, productive downtime, taking stock, and recharging.  There’s time to evaluate life and make...

More often than we should, my wife and I binge on social media videos before going to bed. A 9:30 p.m. “early” bedtime becomes an 11 p.m....

Much of the ancient language permeating the seasons of Advent and Christmas refers to the dualistic phenomena of light and dark. It is...

The Advent season has been busy.  Preparations across the diocese are underway and blessings are unfolding.  An event has taken place in...

Several years ago, Deacon Luke and his wife Susan, of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Grand Junction, CO started a parish tradition;...

Think of children waiting for Christmas day to arrive and for the presents that they hope to receive. They wait in eager (and sometimes...