Reading Time: 4 minutesI lay in bed, but the room continued to spin. I shut my eyes and stayed as still as I could. I was a prisoner of my illness, unable to leave the bed, the room or the house unless someone else came to help me. I thought of Jesus, laying in a ciborium, locked in… [Read More]
Pray with me: the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary
Reading Time: 4 minutes Opening Prayers for the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Come, Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Thy well beloved spouse, and Queen of the Holy Rosary. Help us to… [Read More]
Diversity in Ministry Part III – Financial
Reading Time: 4 minutesIn the first two posts of this series, I explored how diversity in Gifts and Age can provide a richer experience of the faith and allow parishes to better minister to the community. Christians of all denominations today tend to look for communities where they feel like they can belong to the larger group. Sometimes the neighborhoods have similarities… [Read More]
Christ is Rare, Make Him Known
Reading Time: 2 minutesChrist is Rare At any given time or place, we can expect most people are headed toward destruction. This is true in our families, our workplaces, and our churches. Like the other effects of original sin, humanity’s tendency to act against its longterm self-interest is empiracally verifiable. Cooperation with grace is rare. Communion with Christ… [Read More]
Freedom & our relationship to God: Are we galley slaves or free children?
Reading Time: 3 minutesIn the echoes of Trinity Sunday, I found myself thinking about how we are called to relate to this mystery that is the Triune God, and how we are made in the image of God. The priest reflected on this during his Sunday homily, about how it’s pretty much impossible for our minds to capture how… [Read More]
A little shisha, a little Nostra Aetate, a slice of real life
Reading Time: 8 minutesWe are sitting on cushions at a low table, enjoying shisha from a shared hookah in the corner of a light, airy building in a shopping center in Central Texas. There is country music on the radio, and a minty, fruity smoke rising around us in the late afternoon sun. Frank, (or as I call… [Read More]
Strewing Flowers at the Corpus Christi Procession
Reading Time: 3 minutesFor centuries one of the customs at Corpus Christi processions is strewing (throwing) flowers before Jesus in the monstrance to proclaim Him our King in a very special and public manner. Many saints have written about this wonderful experience but one of the most well known is St Therese of Lisieux (Doctor of the Church),… [Read More]
World Marriage Encounters 2017
Reading Time: 1 minutesWWME (Worldwide Marriage Encounter) weekends for 2017 03/31/2017 08:00 pm – 04/02/2017 04:00 pm Austin WWME Weekend Wingate Hotel in Round Rock 06/09/2017 08:00 pm – 06/11/2017 04:00 pm Austin WWME Weekend St Elizabeth Non-residential 09/08/2017 08:00 pm – 09/10/2017 04:00 pm Austin WWME Weekend Wingate Hotel in Round Rock 11/03/2017 08:00 pm – 11/05/2017… [Read More]
Congrats Bishop-Elect Bill!
It Is Finished! (Jn. 19:30)
Reading Time: 3 minutes The fight went the distance! Fifteen rounds of pure guts, grit, and blood! It was a courageous nail-biting fight of perseverance and determination that left the onlookers spellbound. Those on the sidelines witnessed a tenacious battle against our oldest and unseen enemy – death. My mom, Gloria Rodriguez age 89, passed away on May… [Read More]
Tiny Dynamine: a reflection on my mom, Delphia
Reading Time: 3 minutesToday is my mom’s birthday. She would have been 68 today. And I feel like talking about her. She was a warrior for love, justice, and for her children. I want you to know her. I want everyone to know her. She had several names but the one she liked best, and that suited her… [Read More]
Pensando en María
Reading Time: 3 minutesMayo es el mes de la Virgen María. Madre de Dios, Madre de Jesús, Madre la Iglesia. Madre de todas las madres. El gran modelo para la mujer que quiere tener un corazón y una forma de ser tal y cómo Dios lo desea. ¿Quién es María para ti? ¿Qué tan de cerca esta de… [Read More]
Why Mary?
Reading Time: 6 minutesIn our culture and our American church, I come across this question quite often – Why Mary? Sometimes its connected to other related questions like: Can you ever pray too much to Mary? How do I know if I’m worshipping Mary or praying to her for intercession? Does praying to Mary distract from Jesus? And… [Read More]
Choosing a Home Parish
Reading Time: 2 minutesWhat’s a home parish? A home parish is supposed to be like family, a school of love and holiness. Catholics have traditionally attended the nearest parish to their house. Church, like your biological brothers and sisters, wasn’t something you chose. You learned how to love the people around you, people who were often very different… [Read More]
Susan Conroy, author of “Praying with Mother Teresa” May 20
Reading Time: 1 minutesAre you ready for one of the most profound, meaningful experiences of your life? Susan Conroy, author of Praying with Mother Teresa, will present a collection of prayers, insights, and wisdom from the inimitable Mother Teresa of Calcutta, one of heaven’s newest saints. Saturday, May 20, 2017 St. John Neumann Holy Family Center 10:00 am–1:00… [Read More]
Easter Joy, Family, and Heaven
Reading Time: 3 minutesOn Easter Sunday 2017 my family and I gathered at the family home to celebrate Easter by partaking in our regular Easter feast (our family does food well). My grandparents and many of my dad’s graduate students joined us for the feast. I enjoyed getting to know some of the graduate students better during dinner… [Read More]
Going Through the Motions
Reading Time: 1 minutesIdleness & Misery Idleness plagues our world. Bad attitudes about going through the motions of work and prayer only make things worse. We tend to believe we should always feel a sense of affirmation from our daily activities. This holds true for our professional as well as spiritual lives. Consequently, we let listlessness drag us… [Read More]
The Freedom that Comes When Our “Yes” Means “Yes”
Reading Time: 3 minutesI was late the other day (again) on my way somewhere, and I was driving, this scripture came to mind: Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one. Matt 5:37 (NABRE) Have you ever made a decision, and then tried to avoid the consequences of that… [Read More]
Santa Faustina: apóstola de la misericordia
Reading Time: 3 minutesDios escogió a una mujer para nacer en medio de los hombres. Jesús escogió a una mujer para que fuera la primera testigo de su resurrección y Cristo eligió a otra mujer extraordinaria con el fin de preparar al mundo para su segunda venida. Santa Faustina era una mujer que anhelaba en su corazón mirar… [Read More]
Where Is Jesus?
Reading Time: 2 minutesA mother and father bring their small child to a shopping mall on an extremely busy day. They take turns keeping their eyes on the little boy and holding his hand as they move from store to store and then to the food court with a few bathroom breaks in between. Mommy suddenly glances around… [Read More]
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