Amen I say to you, as long as you did it for one of these, the least, of my brethren, you did it for me. –Matthew 25:40– I have a confession to make. I am an unashamed and unabashed reader and lover of fairy tales. That’s right. But I
Read moreThe Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary
Introduction The word “rosary” means a garden of roses. Thus in the rosary, all the Our Fathers, Hail Marys, and Glory Bes form a spiritual bouquet that we present to Our Blessed Mother. Some people, even Catholics, feel uncomfortable praying the rosary. They think that doing so violates
Read moreThe Jesus Connection
Without me you can do nothing. –John 15:5– Some years ago, my friend Father Frans Berkhout and I were in an airport on our way home from a vacation. We were in a long line of passengers waiting to have our luggage scanned before boarding our plane. Passengers were
Read moreThe Leprosy of Sin
And a leper came to him, entreating him, and kneeling down he said, “If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.” –Mark 1:40– Once, when I was about eight or nine years old, I said to my sister Marybeth, “Hey, Marybeth! Wouldn’t it be neat if we couldn’t feel
Read moreA Night at the Opera
“For with what measure you measure, it shall be measured to you.” –Luke 6:38– Concerning the story I am about to relate, permit me to use the words of Father Peter Lonergan in The Quiet Man: “Well, I can’t say it’s true, and I won’t say it’s not.” Several years
Read moreOne Fire, Many Flames
Now no one, when he has lighted a lamp, covers it with a vessel, or puts it under a couch, but he puts it upon a lamp-stand, that they who enter may see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not be made manifest; nor anything concealed that
Read moreSo Many Rules!
I fondly recall the first time I was invited to have dinner at the home of Kevin Damitz and his family. Kevin is the Director of Religious Education at Saint Thomas More parish here in Allentown, and he and his wife Susie are blessed with eight happy, well-adjusted children. As
Read moreSweet Revenge
Pray for those who persecute and calumniate you. –Matthew 5:44– I love fairy tales, and by far the very best author of fairy tales is George MacDonald. In his wonderful story, The Day Boy and the Night Girl, an evil witch named Watho mercilessly torments a young hunter named Photogen
Read moreA Time for Bonding
Joseph stood alone at the entrance to the cave and saw the first light of dawn touch the eastern horizon. It had been a long night. The child had been born some six hours ago. The shepherds had come and gone, and now his wife Mary was in the
Read moreSprayed or Dyed?
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth. Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing. –Matthew
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