Old Saint Mary's Cathedral + Chinese Mission

Monday, December 25, 2017 A Christmas Story Christmas Story 2017 Once upon a time, in the magical kingdom of The Bronx, there lived a good little boy named Terry, who looked forward to the coming of Santa Claus at Christmas. Santa would come with presents for good little boys if they went to bed on Christmas Eve and did not get up in the middle of the night to look for Santa dropping off presents under the Christmas tree. If curiosity or impatience won out and you saw

Winter At The Monastery This is my first winter day in my Trappist monastery where I spend the summers. There are places in the monastery that lack heat. These are tough monks. Toughness is foreign to my personality. But I am sucking it up and learning to adapt. The dining room is heated for our midday dinner. Not so much for breakfast time or supper in the evening. The cloister corridors are not heated. My room is heated as is the shower area in the basement. The ch

Talking To Yourself If you go to places where there are sermons, have you ever noticed how the preacher is not even remotely talking to where the people are at in their spiritual needs? Why would this happen so often? Well, the preacher may have a preconceived idea about the audience, that they are just like him in their interest. Or the preacher may have an agenda, a message, that they want to get out, that they judge the people should hear. The preacher may have made a

Soldiers For Christ When I was confirmed as a third grader, I was told that, with Confirmation, I was becoming a soldier for Christ. Who was I to battle? The devil? Where is that? Years later, I have come to realize that I was indeed a soldier, and my war was with the attack of my character defects. It is a war that is never over, and I need all the grace and help I can get. Each day I awake to differing battlefields. I might awaken and it is quiet and peaceful. Thi