My friends in Christ, As we go through these last few weeks of ordinary time and the end of the liturgical year our readings point us towards the 4 last things, that is judgement, heaven, hell, and purgatory. They highlight for us the afterlife, which could be spent either in indescribable joy in the presence … Continue reading We know neither the day nor the hour

My dear friends in Christ, Today we celebrate the great feast of All Souls. It is fitting that we do so here at the National Shrine of the Poor Souls. Yesterday we remembered all the saints in heaven, the Church Triumphant. Today we focus our attention on those Poor Souls in Purgatory who are undergoing … Continue reading All Souls Day

My friends in Christ, Today we celebrate the great feast of All Saints Day. We remember those holy men and women who have gone before and are now in heaven. Together with All Souls Day tomorrow, these days give a snapshot of the entirety of the Church. Those of us here on earth, who are … Continue reading Let us be in that number when all the saints go marching in

Our Gospel reading today picks up where last Sunday’s left off. We are in what is referred to as the sermon on the Church in Matthew’s Gospel. In this discourse, Christ is addressing his disciples and instructing them on how to live together. Last week we heard how we are to correct our brothers and … Continue reading Scraping off the Barnacles of Resentment

Dear friends in Christ, The Gospel this morning takes me back to my Holy Land pilgrimage earlier this year. As many of you know I was blessed to have been able to take part in a 9 week pilgrimage to the Holy Land with my seminary class at the beginning of this year, and luckily … Continue reading “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

In response to the news that Ireland has overwhelmingly voted to repeal the 8th Amendment of the Constitution that recognized the right to life of the unborn, I suggest we all make an act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. O Sacred Heart of Jesus, animated with a desire to repair the outrages … Continue reading Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

I am sharing here a wonderful little video of His Eminence Robert Cardinal Sarah. Card. Sarah speaks to us here about the importance of silence. We need silence in order to be able to converse with God. Without it, everything is just drowned out by noise. I am looking forward a weeklong silent retreat next … Continue reading Cardinal Sarah on silence

So since the by-line of this blog starts out with "pints and cigars" I feel I should at least say something about it. So I'll start by mentioning some of my favorite of each. My all-time favorite beer has to be Guinness. As a proud Irishman, how could it be anything else? I love all sorts … Continue reading Favorite Pint and Cigar

In the gospel of St. Matthew we find Jesus’ famous “Sermon on the Mount” in chapters 5-7. One can think of these chapters as a handbook for living the Christian life. For in them we are told things such as “blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied” (Mt … Continue reading The Semon on the Mount: Our Handbook for the Christian Life

So I should be studying for exams right now, but instead, I decided to start a blog. I know, that last thing the world needs is another person telling us his opinion, especially about things such as religion. Well, I hope to change things up a bit. I do not intend for this to be … Continue reading Procrasting leads to a blog