What is missing means everything
For more than two months, virtually every news cycle has contained something about the 2018 edition of the clergy-abuse scandal in the U.S. Catholic Church. Missing from those reports are the things that, I believe, mean everything. First, we heard reports about then-Cardinal, now-Archbishop Theodo...Read full story »
Wednesday, October 03, 2018
The Rosary's Spiritual Fruits
It’s been almost a decade since some former co-workers introduced me to the Spiritual Fruits of the Rosary. Are you familiar with them? Do you know they exist? I confess; I was not familiar with them, and I did not know they existed. When I went to work for a PR/marketing firm in Atlanta that...Read full story »
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Enjoying God's wild side
Rapidly, we are approaching my favorite time of year. From late September through Thanksgiving weekend, I have found myself enjoying God’s wild side in dozens of wonderful ways, and in dozens of wonderful places. If you ever find yourself beginning to falter in your belief in God’s love...Read full story »
Thursday, September 20, 2018
Sister Colleen knows the deal
Over the past few months, it’s been impossible to miss a series of TV ads from Florida-based Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc. In our area, they go by Rally’s. The series of ads spotlight various menu items, but they all end with the same line: “Fast-foodies know the deal!”...Read full story »
Thursday, September 06, 2018
No news is just plain great!
Recently in The Message, Bishop Joseph M. Siegel recommended unplugging from the news as an effective way to begin regaining a sense of control over the emotions and stresses associated with the ways our culture has devolved when it comes to dealing with conflict. Over the past 3-4 months, I haven&...Read full story »
Thursday, August 23, 2018
Making safe schools even safer
Over the past 5 years, I have visited almost all of our diocesan Catholic schools. I left every campus visit happy about the levels of security – and, thus, safety – our schools provide daily for their students, faculty and staff. Recently, I learned that our school administrators are w...Read full story »
Thursday, July 26, 2018
Big days approach for St. Peter, Montgomery
Mark July 15 on your calendar, and July 18 and 22. St. Peter Parish in Montgomery is turning 200, and there’s a major celebration in the works. History fascinates me. God has blessed me to be close to some places with significant places in the historical record. Some of them are part of our 1...Read full story »
Thursday, July 12, 2018
'The Catholic school difference' is our way of life
Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal published an editorial that likely caused wailing and gnashing of teeth in some circles – because it heralded “the Catholic school difference” that we in the Diocese of Evansville embrace as a way of life. WSJ editorial writers used a st...Read full story »
Thursday, June 28, 2018
Did you know you were a blessing?
I direct the question that serves as this column’s headline to readers of The Message who are of predominantly European descent. Your families built this diocese throughout the 1800s and 1900s – long before it became the Diocese of Evansville. You are mostly German, and I am at least a...Read full story »
Thursday, June 07, 2018
'Better late than never'
Thomas McFall took to Twitter last month with a series of posts about something he experienced in an Ohio college classroom. You … I … all of us … need to hear this story, as told in a series of Twitter posts that I’ve combined here. McFall writes: “Hey guys, I know I...Read full story »
Thursday, May 24, 2018
