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There is so much evil in the world today, so much suffering and so much that is wrong. Faced with the effects of sin in the world, what is a believer to do? Simply put, and as the old saying goes, we can curse the darkness or light a candle. It is our choice.

On New Year’s Eve, the Church learned of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. The death of a pope is like a death in the family. As Catholics, we are excited when a new pope is elected, but there is a feeling of loss when a pope dies. Whether the pope is retired or not makes no difference.

Christmas is a wonderful time of year. There are decorations, songs, gift-giving, and gatherings with loved ones. We have tried to make this season a light and happy one because there is the joy that God became man. God took flesh in order to bring us salvation.

While channel surfing through the TV stations some time ago, I came across a program showing the training of a student airplane pilot. The student was learning to fly a plane. The training took place in a cockpit of a plane, except the cockpit was not in a real plane but in a classroom. Instead of a cockpit window there was a computer screen showing what it would look like as the pilot attempted to land, take off or fly the plane. Everything was computer generated and the computer was giving the student pilot different scenarios of what could go wrong while piloting a plane:  a down draft or an updraft of wind, a mechanical problem with the plane or some other ways in which trouble could develop.

La palabra "esperanza" apenas se utiliza en los cuatro Evangelios. Según la traducción de la Biblia que se utilice, la palabra aparece unas pocas veces o sólo una. Los demás libros del Nuevo Testamento utilizan la palabra "esperanza", pero su ausencia en los Evangelios es notable.

The word “hope” is rarely used in the four Gospels. Depending upon the translation of the Bible one may use, the word appears only a few times or merely once. The other books of the New Testament use the word “hope,” but its absence from the Gospels is noteworthy There are scripture scholars who observe that the absence of the word “hope” reflects the fact that there is truly no hope until the cross. While the writers of the Gospels write of faith and charity, their Gospel story moves toward the salvation won for us by the Lord at Calvary and showed to us in His Resurrection. This is the moment when the hope of our faith is finally revealed to us.

El otro día conducía por la calle Savannah de Mobile. Me vinieron recuerdos maravillosos. Cuando era pequeño, mi tío vivía en la calle Savannah. Trabajaba para la United Fruit Company cuando ésta tenía una presencia importante en Mobile, que servía de puerto por el que llegaban cargamentos de plátanos centroamericanos.

The other day I was driving down Savannah Street in Mobile. Wonderful memories came back to me. When I was a small child, my uncle lived in on Savannah Street. He worked for the United Fruit Company when it had a substantial presence in Mobile which served as the port through which loads of Central American bananas arrived. 

Tal vez se deba al hecho de que tenemos acceso a las noticias las 24 horas del día, pero siento que hay un aumento de la guerra, los conflictos y la agitación en muchos lugares del mundo, incluso más que en el pasado reciente. Incluso en Europa volvemos a ver los horrores de la guerra.

Perhaps it is due to the fact that we have access to news 24/7, but I feel there is an increase of war, conflict and upheaval in many places in the world, even more than in the recent past. Even in Europe we once again see the horrors of war.

En otoño de 2021, los 67 millones de católicos de Estados Unidos fueron invitados a participar en la preparación del Sínodo mundial que tendrá lugar en 2023. En nuestro país se estima que participaron unos 700.000. En la Arquidiócesis de Mobile, se envió un cuestionario sinodal a cada párroco invitando a sus feligreses a participar. Las preguntas del sínodo se colocaron en la página web de la archidiócesis y se publicaron en "The Catholic Week" para que cualquiera pudiera participar. Nuestro resumen arquidiocesano se publica ahora en el sitio web arquidiocesano. Agradezco a las personas de nuestra arquidiócesis que enviaron sus respuestas a este esfuerzo.

In the Fall of 2021, the 67 million Catholics in the US were invited to participate in the preparation of the worldwide Synod which will occur in 2023. In our country an estimated 700,000 participated. In the Archdiocese of Mobile, a synod questionnaire was sent to each pastor inviting his parishioners to participate. The synod questions were placed on the archdiocesan website and publicized in "The Catholic Week" so that anyone could participate. Our archdiocesan summary is now published on the archdiocesan website. I thank the people of our archdiocese who submitted their responses to this effort.

El 8 de septiembre habrá un nuevo santuario en Inglaterra en honor a María. Será dedicado bajo el título de María, Madre de los Cristianos Perseguidos. El P. Kiely, el sacerdote que lidera el esfuerzo para establecer este nuevo santuario, declaró: "Este es el primer santuario en Europa específicamente dedicado a la oración por la persecución activa de los cristianos ahora en todo el mundo. Es ciertamente el primer santuario en Europa dedicado a María, Madre de los Cristianos Perseguidos".

On Sept. 8 there will be a new shrine in England honoring Mary. It will be dedicated under the title of Mary, Mother of Persecuted Christians. Fr. Kiely, the priest leading the effort to establish this new shrine, stated, “This is the first shrine in Europe specifically dedicated to prayer for the active persecution of Christians now all over the world. It’s certainly the first shrine in Europe dedicated to Mary, Mother of Persecuted Christians.”

Llega el final del verano y la reapertura de las clases. ¡Que sea un buen año para todos! Al comenzar este nuevo año académico, permítanme compartir dos reflexiones.

The end of summer is here and school is reopening. May it be a good year for all. As we begin this new academic year, allow me to share two reflections. 

El pasaje del Evangelio proclamado en la misa del fin de semana del 17 de julio fue la conocida historia de Jesús visitando la casa de Marta y María. Según mi experiencia, esta historia suele suscitar fuertes reacciones emocionales en algunos de sus oyentes. A veces la gente comenta que Jesús no agradeció a Marta sus esfuerzos. Dirán que todo el mundo debería haberse sentido afortunado de que Marta estuviera presente, pues de lo contrario nadie habría tenido nada que comer.

The Gospel passage proclaimed at Mass on the weekend of July 17 was the well-known story of Jesus visiting the home of Martha and Mary. In my experience, this story often elicits strong emotional reactions from a number of its listeners. Sometimes people will comment that Jesus did not thank Martha for her efforts. They will say that everyone should have felt fortunate Martha was present, otherwise no one would have had anything to eat. 

En el calendario de la Iglesia sólo se celebran tres cumpleaños: el de Jesús (Navidad), el de María (8 de septiembre) y el de Juan el Bautista (24 de junio). A Juan se le honra de esta manera, ya que tuvo el papel otorgado por Dios de anunciar que el Mesías había llegado.

There are only three birthdays celebrated in the Church’s calendar: the birth of Jesus (Christmas), the birth of Mary (Sept. 8) and the birth of John the Baptist (June 24). John is honored in this way since he had the God-given role of announcing that the Messiah had come.