It was the summer of 1936, the hottest summer on record. Eighteen- year -old Bob White Sr., my dad had hitchhiked to Missouri for the summer to take a job pounding spikes for the railroad. The great migration of “Okies” from Oklahoma to the promised land of California...

When I first learned about the Ten Commandments as a child, it bothered me to think that God could be jealous.  Jealousy seems such a negative emotion — easily capable of getting out of hand or pushing us to take extreme actions to hold on to something we want.  But...

This week we are looking at Mark’s account of Jesus in the desert. It’s very brief. It just says that the “Spirit drove Jesus into the desert. He remained there forty days tempted by Satan.” In Mathew and Luke, we have a more detailed about those temptations. “Jesus,...

As part of my part time chaplain duties at Hol Family Catholic I had mass this Friday, Feb 2. In my homily I talked about the old Bill Murray movie “Ground Hog’s Day”. In the movie Ground Hog's Day Feb. 2 is a day that keeps repeating itself. It stays caught in in...

If you listen to these Gospel stories that we hear week after week it seems that Jesus is always inviting people to “come.” In John 21 on the shore over an open fire the Risen Jesus has prepared breakfast for the disciples who have just landed on shore with a huge...

Part of my  role as priest for a parish like St. Victoria includes what I call a backstage pass to people’s lives. With it I have the privilege of being in on some of the most intimate moments of a family’s life together, the good times and the hard times and...

Today we light the third candle on the Advent wreath.  The candle of joy. The Advent wreath is a wonderful visual for us of our progress through Advent, and indeed of our progress in the Christian life. We begin with the wreath itself.  Its circular shape and its...

The strawberry     In today’s Gospel passage from Mark we’re told to be alert, to stay awake. But what are we to stay awake for? We’re to stay awake for the coming of the Lord. If we’re sleepwalking our way through life, we’ll miss it. So, the coming of the Lord, when...