Boastfulness is a luxury that seldom lends comfort—not even to the boaster, ultimately. A boast is often made at someone else’s expense. I’ve been guilty of enjoying sweet flattery without acknowledging others who might have deserved a share of that…

We can thank lawyers for adding “Devil’s advocate” to the American vocabulary. It’s a process where someone takes the opposing side of an issue to test the strength of one’s own case. We may have friends who do this with…

This edition of our mass blog is a prayer for Angela. She’s one of this year’s St. Michael confirmation candidates for whom Father Pete asked parishioners to devote some time in their daily conversations with God. Each of these students…

Church ushers get to witness some amazing transformations every Sunday. Some people come in the front door carrying a smartphone and wearing the urgency of world affairs on their face. As you greet them they walk past with their eyes…

The history of mankind is rooted in the ordinariness of evil. According to the Book of Genesis, Cain killed his brother Abel for no more serious a reason than jealousy. Ever since, murder has become a common way for humans…

While jogging through our public square the other morning the weekly message posted by the Methodist church caught my attention: “A truly happy person enjoys the scenery along a detour.” Coincidentally, I was thinking about this Sunday’s mass readings for…

Our Lent and Easter liturgies give us access to many sensitive conversations between Jesus and his disciples. Any one of these can stand alone as the basis of a key lesson. This Sunday’s readings are interconnected. Both the first and…

Poor Thomas. Thanks to this Sunday’s gospel reading (Jn 20:19-31) he became the poster boy for flagging faith. To this day “Doubting Thomas” is the generic label for anyone demonstrating a negative attitude toward someone else’s good news. For someone…

Judas wasn’t the only disciple of Christ to kill himself after his master’s death sentence, but he was the only one who didn’t live to testify about it. As Easter Sunday’s readings open, a newly minted version of Peter takes…

For beings with free will, we of the human race are pretty predictable. This is especially evident in the readings for this Palm Sunday. They indicate that not only did Jesus know what was about to happen to him at…