GETTING PAST THE SURFACE

About 12 years ago, while serving as a chaplain in Illinois for a few weeks for a group of a couple of hundred recent college graduates, I had what I’ll call a delayed reaction of…

IT’S NOT FAIR

Imagine if the landowner in this parable were an actual employer at a business here in the United States in 2023.  Someone who had hired individuals at the start of the day, throughout the day,…

DEBTS OWED DEBTS FORGIVEN

When people ask how my parents reacted when I began the application process for seminary to actively begin discerning the priesthood, I explain how supportive they were.  It wasn’t a complete surprise.  We had many…

THE REAL FIGHT OF GOOD VS EVIL

This is the start of my 17th year here as the Campus Minister at Montclair State University, which is shocking to me.  When I first started, the Archbishop at the time said because I was…

FROM “ROCK” TO “SATAN”?

If you’ve been paying close enough attention to the Sunday Gospels between last week and this, you might be thinking, “What a difference a week makes.” Could there be a more devastating blow to someone’s…

THE HEART OF JESUS – Friendship

God’s providence is pretty amazing. I love it when He is beyond obvious. Here we are on our first Thursday night of the Academic Year, which we always have a later Mass, but this Academic…

REASON FOR YOUR CONFIDENCE

A few weeks ago, a headline kept popping up that, “NJ should expect a colder and snowier winter this year.” That prediction came from the annual publication of The Farmers Almanac.  This was one of…