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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  Not so fast my friends.

On the First Sunday of Advent, Nov. 29, we begin a new liturgical year.  The liturgical year is a microcosm of the Christian Faith.

I am writing this on October 28th.  As I write this, I have no idea who will win the presidential or any other election.  As you read this, you will know.  But I do know this.  Jesus Christ is the Lord of all.  In the person of Jesus Christ, God entered into our fallen world.

In just a few days we will be celebrating Halloween. There will be candy and other treats to pass out or collect in the rite known as “Trick or Treat.” We all hope that COVID doesn’t smash this tradition this year.

I write this on the Feast of the Archangels, Sept. 29. I am not an expert on angels, but thought it would be helpful to correct some common misperceptions about angels.

I hope and pray that everyone is doing reasonably well after our little dance with Sally. What a year, huh? COVID-19, great civil unrest, worry about the economic impact from those, and now Sally. I know many of us are feeling like this string of events is straight out of the Book of Revelation.

Does the Church teach that, “Outside the Church there is no salvation?” WHAT? That would mean that everybody who is not Catholic is going to hell? Crazy!

We are all going to die. We all know that, and we all prefer to not think about it. To have a certain fear of death is normal. We have many fears related to death.

The Church gives us two feasts in the span of 8 days that are deeply connected. On Aug. 6 it was the Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus, and Aug. 15 is the Feast of the Assumption (of Mary into heaven). I would first like to just state what each feast celebrates and then explain some theology behind them and the connection between the two.

I received an email from a wonderful Catholic in Dothan. She asked me to answer two questions. First, why do Catholics believe that we must confess our sins to a priest instead of just speaking directly to God? Second, “How do I answer people who say that Mass is so boring?” I will answer the first question in this issue and will address the second concern in the next issue.

How do we define ourselves? Not all cultures are the same. In the United States we tend to identify ourselves by what we do. Our identity is very much wrapped up in our profession and our activities.

I have been very blessed in my life to know some awesome priests. They certainly had personalities that were different from one another, but they shared something too. Each man was a joyful servant of the Lord. Some of these priests are/were vivacious; some are/were reserved. But each one has/had a servant’s heart.

Have you given something up for Lent? You remember how awesome it was to indulge in that once Easter arrived. Maybe it was M & M’s. Maybe it was ice cream. I remember one Easter taking my father to the hospital for the emergency removal of his gallbladder.

As Catholics we should have a particular way to think. I don’t mean we should all think the same thing, but I do mean that we should think the same way.

We hear the story of the three faithful Jews who refuse to offer sacrifice to the pagan god of King Nebuchadnezzar from the Book of the Prophet Daniel during the fifth week of Lent.

What a weird couple of weeks it has been, and I suspect it is going to get weirder and maybe even scarier. COVID-19, now a pandemic, has absolutely turned a lot of plans upside down and has upset a great many applecarts.

I am so sorry that our Methodist brothers and sisters are going through a period of discord over doctrine that is precipitating a split. I am truly suffering for what you are going through, but this also presents an opportunity to discuss unity.

I think that we have lost sight of what it really means to be a man.  Television tends to paint men as bumbling and shallow.  Married men in typical sitcoms seem to spend most of their time trying to get out of helping around the house and get out of doing anything at their job that would be considered extra.

I enjoyed watching the Super Bowl the other evening. As the teams went to their locker rooms at halftime, I picked up my iPad to look at some social media.

I am writing this before I leave for Washington D.C. for the annual March for Life.  You will be reading it after I and some 600 others from the Archdiocese of Mobile have returned from this annual event.  We become part of a throng numbering in the hundreds-of-thousands.  It is really a remarkable thing to see and to be a part of.