My good friend, C. James Herrick IV, is a poet as well as a professional civil engineer. He shared one of his poems with me recently, and so it gets passed on to you. It is about the Good Thief, who died next to Jesus, and was promised Paradise the very day of his death … Continue reading Repentance poetry →

I've been thinking a lot about cover bands. Cover bands are, of course, music groups that play other people's music, maybe making some money (not much usually), but above all making people happy, at least momentarily (sometimes helped by alcohol). Having played in a cover rock band when I was much younger, I've often wondered … Continue reading Seeking cover →

Oh, How time flies, said St. Paul, and it's true. Most of us have a large bank of memories that serve us well, recalling events that make us joyful, or sad and sorry for our mistakes. But it has always been a kind of danger to dwell too much on the past because emotions are … Continue reading Nostalgia and technology →

Good communication is perhaps the hardest art for almost all of us. God has given us the great powers of reason and will, but to correctly and respectfully express our thoughts and desires to each other is really difficult! Many times it is so difficult, that we humans opt to not communicate at all. For … Continue reading The arts of communication & conversion →

Fr. Andrew Moss, a professor of Canon Law at the Mount Saint Mary Seminary and School of Theology in Cincinnati, OH, has compiled an interesting brief study of what he believes to be some of the central issues around the recent Motu Proprio legal declaration, To protect the charism, regarding personal prelatures. Personally, I am … Continue reading Ad charisma tuendum & Opus Dei →

Summers are often filled with camps for young people determined to have fun and make new friends. The YSI Leadership Camp near Scranton, PA is no exception to this rule. An interesting distinctive element to this camp is its Jesus-focused component. Of course, many summer camps are Christian in their orientation, with classes in living … Continue reading Summer camp sacraments →

I've been intrigued for a long time about the origins of the word "repent" which I basically thought came from the Greek term "metanoia", and which I, in turn, thought meant a change of direction. Well, I was wrong, and now I find... (not Red, Red Wine as the answer... Thanks Neil Diamond for a … Continue reading Bishop Barron on Metanoia →

May crowning of Our Lady at Aquinas Academy, Pittsburgh (note flower crash on right: like ourselves!) As we make our way into the Ascension of Jesus and the expectation of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (even with the great help of Mary in May), perhaps we realize that we haven't lived the … Continue reading Final Countdown of Easter ’22 →

Recently I was passing through the Houston Airport, and I stopped at its Hard Rock Cafe for lunch and some "rock relic" gazing. They had a guitar on the wall from Blue Oyster Cult, and I was immediately reminded of "Godzilla" which is my favorite BOC tune for its lyrics as well as its searing … Continue reading St. Athanasius vs. Godzilla →

My good friend and artistically gifted, Sean Sadler, recently sent me a link to his latest Gospel hymn, which I simply titled, "'Cuz praise be..." Well, you can guess the rest of the title. Yes, it's "'Cuz praise be Jesus Christ!" We celebrate his Glorious Resurrection today, Easter Sunday 2022, and actually we (Catholics and … Continue reading ‘Cuz praise be…” →