As many are aware, according to canon 401 of the Code of Canon Law, bishops are requested to submit a letter of resignation to the Supreme Pontiff upon reaching their 75th birthday.   Accordingly, prior to my own 75th birthday of March 3, I have submitted that letter to Pope Leo XIV via the Papal Nunciature.  My present status as Bishop of Pueblo continues until my resignation is accepted by the Holy See, and my replacement is announced. 

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. 

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

I recently returned from the annual Baltimore assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.  One urgent message released nationally from this meeting was a letter, composed and approved in assembly, regarding many concerns about the present state of detention and processing of immigrants, whether documented or not.

In the 2017 animated movie Coco, inspired by the Mexican holiday Dia de los muertos, we hear sung, “Remember me, though I have to say ‘good-bye.’ Remember me, don’t let it make you cry. For even if I’m far way, I hold you in my heart… remember me.”

As we look toward Thanksgiving and Christmas, I realize that 2025 is quickly coming to an end, and so is the Jubilee Year of Hope. What will be our take-aways from this special time of grace?

I tend to be very literal, and I have a tendency to not believe unless I see it with my own eyes.  Nevertheless, like I was taught from toddlerhood, I believe in God, Heaven and all the things I was taught, but I believed them in a subconscious sort of way. Because they tell me to believe.  So, when praying the Rosary in front of a statue of the Virgin Mary, I was praying to that statue I was looking at. Not to an invisible person dwelling in an invisible Heaven.

The senseless violence, school shootings, acts of terror; the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk while speaking to university students; leave us with feelings of sadness, anger, and futility as to what is happening to our society.  The killing of the young, our best and our brightest, in places of supposed safety, health and learning is leaving its dark imprint on those who survive.  We pray for those who have been killed, for their families and communities. 

This week I want to provide a status report on my medical situation and progress.  Last December through January I underwent two operations which addressed hernia repair, which were to be followed by shoulder replacement surgery.  My doctors and I made the decision to delay this surgery until the seasons of Lent, Easter, Confirmations, a June family reunion and USCCB national meeting were completed. 

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

Years ago, I wrote of a Jewish blessing which I want to reflect on again.  It is improvised, spontaneous, and goes something like this. 

Thank you for your prayers and support throughout our endeavors to defeat amendment 79 on the November ballot. 

n the 2017 animated movie Coco, inspired by the Mexican holiday Dia de los muertos, we hear sung, “Remember me, though I have to say

This morning, my thoughts and prayers come from Miles City, MT, preparing to return to Pueblo.  As you probably know, my last visit to see m

July 27, 2024 “If then my people, upon whom my name has been pronounced, humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn from their...

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. 

The preparation had been taking place since I started school, but I was now well into the second grade and finally ready.  The greatest chal

Summer is here.  It’s time to go camping.  Memories from the past, from family outings with 9 siblings in earlier years--we would plan,...

The Diocese of Pueblo covers the southern half of Colorado, bordered by Oklahoma, New Mexico, Utah and I-70.