A Life of Service, Love, and Divine Mercy...
It was 1965. The family set off on an intercontinental cruise aboard the SS United States from New York to Madrid, filled with anticipation and excitement.
Several days into their voyage, the ship hit turbulent weather.
Beyond the Renovations: 60 Minutes and the Soul of Notre Dame...
“In this monument. there is a soul. A soul. And we feel that when we enter now. We feel that,” said Philippe Jost, President of the public establishment for the conservation and restoration of the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, in an interview with 60 Minutes’ Bill Whitaker.
Looking at the Glass Half-Full Through Half-Empty Lenses
It started with my daughter’s Mini Cooper. She said the brakes failed while driving in heavy traffic after leaving work in Miami Beach, and she rear-ended another car. Nothing happened to her, thank God! Nothing really happened to the car, or at least, nothing I could see.
The Idolatry of Politics
Aristotle once said, "nature abhors a vacuum," which came to mind recently as I reflect on how politics has become a religion for far too many, particularly during the heat of a presidential campaign.
In the absence of God, human nature tends to turn to what St.
A Life Well Lived and The Legacy We Leave Behind
"Carlos, if I had eight more like you, I'd be a happy man."
Those were the words my high school baseball coach said to me one day during my senior year in 1982. Now, more than forty years later, I still remember them.
Changes, Relationships and My Son...
"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years." -- Mark Twain
My son and I have always had a great relationship.
From the Disco to the Living Room Couch...
I wasn't looking for a relationship.
I was at point in my life where I was getting over a failed relationship, and I was enjoying spending time on my own without any attachments.
I had returned to my parents' house.
The Sound of Silence...
Silence.
The only noise was the humming of an air conditioning unit in the background and the thoughts that formed quietly in my head.
Uncomfortable? It can be, especially at first.
Revealing? Without a doubt.
An Ode to Old Friends...
"Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. And when he isn't around, he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?" -- Clarence, It's a Wonderful Life.
It was a lesson George Bailey had to learn the hard way.
Unfortunately, it's a lesson, we often have to learn as well.
Margaritas on the Rocks with Salt...
My wife and I are about four years away from being empty nesters but after almost a decade of limiting our travels to family trips, we finally took our first vacation sans the kiddies a few weeks ago, and I must say, it was a pleasant look at what our life may be in the not-too-distant future.
Stoning a Man with Popcorn...
I'm in line for Confession at my parish one recent Saturday morning; doing an examination of conscience and praying before the Blessed Sacrament, which is now exposed at the church after morning Mass and during Confession.
Merton on Need to Clear Our Heads...
“The greatest need of our time is to clean out the enormous mass of mental and emotional rubbish that clutters our minds”
― Thomas Merton, world traveling intellectual and man-of-the-world turned Trappist Monk, mystic and social activist, who became one of the most influential Christian authors of
St. Joseph; the Man who First Set Eyes on the Face of God...
"If discouragement overwhelms you, think of the faith of Joseph; if anxiety has its grip on you, think of the hope of Joseph; if exasperation or hatred seizes you, think of the love of Joseph, who was the first man to set eyes on the human face of God in the person of the Infant conceived by the Hol
Baseball, Sleepless Nights and Divine Inspirations...
"All my life I heard about believing in God but God believes in us, in you, in me. Faith in Jesus is important. But how about Jesus' faith in us?," the man asked in the video.
That concept had never occurred to me.
Rocky, a Bout with Covid and Trusting God...
Towards the end of the fight scene in Rocky (the original), after being knocked down by heavyweight champion Apollo Creed and floundering on the mat, as Mickey his trainer yells at him to stay down and The Final Bell musical score starts getting louder, Rocky Balboa musters up whatever energy he has
Seaver, Childhood Heroes and Hope...
There are few childhood heroes in life who never seem to disappoint in one way or another and, for me, that hero was Tom Seaver.
Seaver, who passed away at the age of 75 after a battle with dementia and COVID-19, was without a doubt the greatest player ever to wear a Met uniform.
My Daughter, Confession and Humility...
"So, if God knows everything, why do we have to confess to a priest?" my daughter asked in frustration after having gone to Confession for the first time face-to-face; that is, for the first time since her first Sacrament of Reconciliation in second grade and, that time, it was with a Polish priest
Can't Stop the Rain from Falling or the Sun from Shining...
But I was never told about the sorrow
How can you mend a broken heart?
How can you stop the rain from falling down?
How can you stop the sun from shining?
What makes the world go round?
How can you mend this broken man?
How can a loser ever win?
Please help me mend my broken heart
And let me
True Happiness Is Not Getting What You Want...
"You will never be happy if your happiness depends on getting solely what you want. Change the focus. Get a new center. Will what God wills, and your joy no man shall take from you."
-- Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen, a priest, author and one of the first televangelists in U.S. history.
Why Good Friday?...
“Unless there is a Good Friday in your life, there can be no Easter Sunday.”
-- Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen, a priest, author and one of the first televangelists in U.S. history. He hosted a prime time television show in the 50's and 60's.
Greatness Amidst Displacement, Commuting and Quarantine...
Life is about adjustments.
In the natural scheme of things, people adjust in one way or another from the time they are born until the day they die.
Unfortunately for me, I'm not much for change.
I've written about it in the past. I'm a creature of habit.
Faith, Coronavirus and the End of the World...
"When men choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing, they then become capable of believing in anything." -- GK Chesterton
To me, it's surreal.
It seems like the world is going delirious over the coronavirus outbreak and, in all honesty, I just don't get it.
Beards and the Fight Against Gender Neutrality...
"For God wished women to be smooth, and rejoice in their locks alone growing spontaneously, as a horse in his mane; but has adorned man, like the lions, with a beard, and endowed him, as an attribute of manhood, with a shaggy chest - a sign of strength and rule." -- Clement of Alexandria, circa lat
2Setting Deep Roots in a Changing World...
"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to." -- Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings.
Baseball, Detention and Life Lessons...
I don't know what to do anymore.
I've tried threats. I've tried punishments (No electronics for a week). I've tried encouragement.
Advice for My Daughter as She Goes Off to College...
I suppose this is the time I should give you advice. I never had any myself except once from your cousin Alfred.
2Proms, Graduations and Losing Control...
"Acting? That's a life of constant rejection!"
"Criminal Law? That's one of the most dangerous professions ever.
Santa, Disappointment and Raising Kids...
He gazed at me with a look of contempt that pierced through me from across the dinner table; sort of like the look that Superman gives Batman when he realizes The Caped Crusader is gunning for him in Superman vs. Batman, before he tosses him around like a ragdoll.
Not My Little Girl Anymore...
It might not be as heart-wrenching as I imagine leaving her at school for the first time will be next year, but dropping off my oldest daughter at the airport for her first trip to New York City alone was a bit of a dress rehearsal from an emotional standpoint (to put it in theater terms since that
1Our Innermost Desire by Blaise Pascal...
“All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end... This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves...
The Catholic Church and the Sin Within...
By now, most people have heard or read about the 18-months grand jury investigation in Pennsylvania that uncovered seventy years of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests in six different diocese, dating back to the 1940's.
Love of the Father, A Baseball Player's Tale...
There are few baseball players that I learned to admire more after their careers were over than during. Former Kansas City Royals' great Mike Sweeney is one of those players.
