Columns

Whose Church?

When you think of “the” Church, what image comes to mind? A place you go to pray in? Where you go — or used to go — to Mass?
Questions of identity

The pain and suffering of people, and their friends and families, who experience forms of depression and dysphoria can become a burden so overwhelming that life itself seems unlivable.
The courage to think

None of us likes being told that certain things we would like to do we cannot do — typically because they are illegal, immoral or just bad nutrition.
Saints alive!

As most residents of Albany know, we do have many Saints among us
The closeness of Mary

We can always be sure that in coming to Mary we will reach Jesus.
Who’s mad at who?

Pardon my grammar. I am just making a point. I choose not to add the objective “m” at the end of my question. It is “me” who decides who I am – or even whether I am. End conversation.
Family meal

My parents must have been cruel. Or so it seemed. They made us eat liver.
Jesus our treasure

Gospel readings in recent days have focused on a recurrent biblical theme: what do we treasure.
Screen time

Jesus wants to come to us in a way so much more intimately and personally than we can ever find with some image on a screen.
Lourdes: Where prayer and care become one

Karen Dutkowsky, a very dear friend of mine who accompanied malades (French, for people who are ailing) to Lourdes, would say, “In Lourdes I can only pray with my hands.”
The Church as haven

Yes, I did say “haven,” not “heaven,” God knows. But the two words are related.
Facing Jerusalem

Jerusalem is much more than a special city, albeit so for very sound historical, religious and even political reasons.
Being present: What true friends do

Give until it hurts — that is the message — exactly what our best friend forever, Jesus Christ, does.
My 40th anniversary = July 31

Father Kane shares his “Top 10” Ecumenical/Interfaith events during these 40 years as director for the ministry
'I'm good'

When asked perfunctorily, “how are you?” it is usual to respond, “I’m good!” Grammarians will correct their pupils on this, reminding them that “goodness” is a state of virtue, whereas “wellness” is a state of health.
The art of discernment — the way to pray

It is the role of the Holy Spirit to lead, guide and correct us.
Happy birthday! (Don’t blow out the candles!)

It’s Pentecost this Sunday, the birthday of the Church, therefore our birthday! If you’ve missed someone’s birthday throughout the past year, this is a good time to make up and reconnect.
God’s presence in the present

The reader might be tempted to pay a backhanded compliment for this title by noting that I have a remarkable grasp of the obvious.
The inclusiveness of love

Because Jesus wishes each of us to have his heart and mind and if we are not there yet, he still wants us to try so that we do not give up on ourselves or others.
If you’re looking to be heard …

Recently, at a Legatus meeting of local business and professional people, a guest speaker by the name of Dan Celucci (Catholic Leadership Institute or CLI) made an excellent presentation.
Just don’t call me late ... for Mass

Mornings may not be the wokest time of day for aging teens. Growing up is hard to do and the fallout from dealing all day with raging hormones and the strains of peer pressure in school can leave one exhausted at the end of the week. Just don’t wake me on Sunday — of all mornings!
Do you want to be my disciple?

It’s an amazing thing. Jesus getting down on his hands and knees, begging to wash the feet of his disciples, the night before he died.
‘Come out of the darkness:’ the challenge of the Resurrection

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is nothing less than explosive and, to use natural imagery, comparable to the discovery of fission, the splitting of the atom.
Hang on to the Cross

Ever dared to shake your fist at heaven? Honest enough to admit you have ever gotten mad at God? Or maybe just had a few questions you would like to take up when you and God are alone together sometime? In a safe place, of course, when your arms are long enough to still have control of God and to keep God at a certain distance …
Jesus is our safe space

To be true to its mission as a place where salvation happens, the Church must be, first and foremost, a safe space, where our weakest and most vulnerable can find peace and the assurance that they will be protected, nourished and healed.
Confirming doubts

We’ve celebrated Easter Sunday, the observance of the Lord’s Resurrection, as early as March 22. No earlier date is permitted since, ecclesiastically, the vernal equinox is fixed on March 21. Cycles are part of the rhythm of life. Jesus himself observed them.
Raising expectations

Sometimes rumors are true. The adage has it that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. We certainly can use a lift after the trials and tribulations we have been going through and the state of a world teetering on the brink of endless war.
Who is ‘The Church?’ Reflections on synodality

I’ll admit it! Talk about “we are the Church” may sound more than a little hypocritical when used by certain hierarchs and theologians, almost as if to deflect accountability for less than stellar leadership and counsel.
Seeing Jesus

To hear saintly people bearing witness to “seeing Jesus” in others had always intrigued me.
RETURN TO GOD

This Ash Wednesday is our reminder to turn away from sin and accept God's mercy.
A Lent like none other

That’s an expression many of us have heard and lived in recent years. Who can forget the great lockdowns of spring 2020, when most of us had to spend the better part of Lent and even the Easter season huddled at home
The Beatitude of personal presence

Regarding the Beatitudes G.K. Chesterton once said, “On first reading it doesn’t make sense, on second reading nothing else makes sense!”
To tell the truth

“You can’t handle the truth!” If you’ve seen the movie, “A Few Good Men” (1992), you may recall those explosive words by which the self-important Col. Nathan R. Jessep (Jack Nicholson) attempts on the witness stand to dismiss the brash Navy prosecutor Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise).
The Catholic School Advantage

How often I have quoted words of wisdom and experience from our renowned Superintendent of Schools, Giovanni Virgiglio.
Enough already?

“You don’t know; you’re learning.” My paternal grandpa would say, while cutting my hair as a youngster. He had a way of trimming my ego as well.
Living, or partly living?

Throughout the play, “Murder in the Cathedral,” the women of Canterbury, bearing critical, often emotionally wrenching witness to the looming tragedy they feel forced to bear and declare, repeat a portentous motif about how people are “living and partly living.”
Renewing the face of the earth

Most all of us want a world where there is clean water, abundant and accessible, wholesome food and shelter that is safe and secure. For everyone.
A pandemic we can do something about

Mother Teresa of Calcutta believed that loneliness, often accompanied by despair and hopelessness, was the virulent affliction in the West. Yes, she thought of loneliness as a virus.
Jesus in our midst

Patience and watchful waiting are an essential component of our growing in faith and trust in God. Not just in Advent, of course, but that’s one good reason for an Advent before Christmas.
The face of God

Christmas becomes a time to allow Jesus to be born again in our hearts, to re-present him to the world in and through us.
Advent giving

Listening to one soul in need may be the greatest gift one can bring to another.
No denying reality

There is something about being hit with very personal, biological red flags that cannot be mine alone to manage, delegate, tweak or outsource. “This is your life” (or death) suddenly hit home: YOU’VE GOT CANCER!
THANKSGIVING: THE CATHOLIC THING

Bishop's column: Every human being likes to be thanked. Sometimes we even deserve it. God loves being thanked, too — and ALWAYS deserves it. Why is this so?
Our young people want to know Jesus now

“Jesus must have been a very happy man to be around. He was always attracting children. And children don’t follow a cranky person.”
Giving thanks is a way to evangelize

Gratitude is the most personal, powerful and perfect prayer; in fact, the word “prayer” in this sentence is almost superfluous.
Taking God seriously

Matthew Kelly calls it “The Biggest Lie in the History of Christianity” — which is also the title of his book on the subject. He subtitles it with an appeal to our all-too-common experience: “How Modern Culture is Robbing Billions of People of Happiness.”
A chance to grow

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it.” This adage, attributed to Einstein, but probably a paraphrase of similar remarks made by many others, may serve as a reminder to us all as we begin our journey toward the XVI Ordinary Genera Assembly of Bishops in October 2023 (Vatican City).
To rise up, go deep

The way up is down deep, into the rich humanity of the poorest of the poor.
Hope of the Poor

My heart is full of joy and gratitude to God for a mission in the slums of Mexico City.
Dig into Jesus!

The problem, Jesus suggests, is not that we ask for too much, but rather too little.
Reality therapy

We have witnessed an escalation of violence on so many levels in our lives. Violence always claims innocent lives. It is an expression of disorder within the human soul that explodes into disorder in the community
The God factor

Keep Him in your heart always and you will possess true love.
A work in progress

Bishop Ed looks into our parishes, our mission and how to form deeper bonds of spiritual reunion.
“Good” Days and “Bad” Days?

The sun is always there even if the clouds at times suggest otherwise.
The world seen through faith

Faith is certainly a way of seeing.
It’s just us

In a world where we have experienced so much polarization of “us” versus “them” on so many levels, this was a celebration of our common humanity.
Coming clean

For those who have been wounded by or within the Church, I can only say, blame us — blame me! — but do not blame God.
The blessing and promise of family

The prime goal of any friendship, any truly loving relationship, is to lead the beloved to God.
The Mass unites us

It would be premature to form conclusions on how the motu proprio issued just a few days ago (Traditionis Custodes, July 16) will be received and implemented. For my part, as a diocesan bishop, always loyal to the Holy See, and now charged with the task of implementation, I also want to accompany my people so that together we may maintain the unity that our Eucharistic faith ensures.
Just do it

Most of us, I suspect, have little idea of the good we do and can do — if that is really what we want to do.
Sanctuary

There is a connection between sanctuary and sanctity.
Whatever became of sin?

Lest I be accused of plagiarism, I must be bold to say that I do not own this title. I certainly own sin — my personal sins — as a step toward my salvation.
To tell the truth

To mitigate speculation about the draft of a Eucharist proposal by the USCCB, I will tell you what the vote was about and how I voted.
The long haul

If you are married — still married after some, maybe many years — do you remember your wedding day? Was it the highpoint of your married life so far, or only the beginning?
Corpus Christi and Catholic identity

Corpus Christi — or the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ — evokes memories of great joy and pride in Catholic identity for those of us, particularly Americans blessed with strong ethnic traditions.
Re-membering

At Mass, we remember and re-member, recalling who we are and why we are, to become more ourselves.
Sacramental healing

As one sad narrative unfolds, with rash shootings shattering recovering cityscapes, other kinds of lockdown loom, more stifling than those which pandemic fears fueled.
One God, one people

Though we may pride our nation for its foundational principles of equality among all human beings and a mutual respect for and among all persons so implied — at least in theory — practice and experience show this challenging to achieve.
Scales of vision

Seeing is believing, it is said. We tend naturally to trust and value more what we can perceive personally with our own five senses. Rather than rely on someone else’s perception, on mere hearsay, we want to be the judge of what is or is not real.
Family healing

May is the month of Mary. Mary is the Mother of God — of Jesus, the Church and our Mother. This intimate, family mystery of God’s presence in the heart of Mary flows from the total adherence of our Mother to the loving will of God.
And lead us not into … WHAT?

“And lead us not into temptation ...” This vexing phrase from the Lord’s Prayer — the “Our Father” — is, for many, something of a stumbling block.
Trust

Those Jerusalem Christians in early Acts, what was it that was so vibrant and attractive about them?
Divine Mercy evangelizes the heart

If someone were to ask me, what is the Divine Mercy all about, I would start by saying it is all about evangelization — or, as I like to call, “gospel-ing.” It’s about spreading the Good News effectively.
It has to be love

In Judaism, I am told, there is an adage: death ends a life, but it doesn’t end a relationship.
Mercy killings

Every parent knows the anguish of watching a child suffer, feeling helpless except to hope in and pray to God, and the people offering care and assistance.
Practicing heaven

The United States Conference of Catholics Bishops (USCCB) is calling for a Eucharistic Revival.
Fear less, love more

One of my fondest memories was the celebration of my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary.
For the love of sisters

Talk to any Catholic. Everyone has a sister story, often profoundly affecting their life.
Reaching across the aisle

“Why can’t we all just get along?” Who has not asked this seemingly simple question when fed up with all the violence, hate and chaos that the world fulminates with if one only relies on the bad news served by most media most of the time
The dogginess of God

I had been well warned. Yes. About the new dog. For weeks before my visit to my good friends in Florida, I had been sent enchanting photos of the progress of Duke, an uncommonly precocious, but very German Shepherd.
Surprised by Lent

Didn’t we just do Lent? If you were thinking this as we approach the pause in “Ordinary Time” with Ash Wednesday next week, Feb. 17, you are not alone.
You are the evangelist!

Am I good news or bad news? To be or not to be the Good News. That is the question! A question I have to ask myself every day. It’s an identity thing
Touched by love

Last week I had the pleasure of leading a group of Navy chaplains in their annual retreat. I also shared with you, in last week’s column, some reflections on memories from my father’s life.
‘I pray’

What does a father do all day long? Especially when he can no longer walk, or talk, or even take care of his own bodily needs.
Finding our heart in His

Survivor friends of mine who have sought counseling over the years in their lifelong journey of recovery and healing from clergy abuse tell of how some therapists resist their attempts to grow spiritually on their own faith terms.
Questions from God

Isn’t it strange? In a world where instant communication is possible for virtually (pun intended) anyone with a device, we are becoming less certain that anything we see is true. If we ask a question will we get a straight answer?
Christmas through the eyes of children

Christmas, in the eyes of a child, is totally serious. That’s exactly why Christmas is an invitation to have fun.
The loneliness of God

Attributing human emotions to God — such as rage, jealousy or loneliness — is always metaphorical. The scriptures are rife with anthropomorphic devices depicting both God’s kindness and anger. Poets often take great license with this.
Coming to our senses

I have in mind the classic 1951 movie version of the novelette, with Alistair Sim as Scrooge. Many of us will no doubt remember and revisit this version as the Christmas season approaches.
The shunning of God

Thanksgiving, and “the Holidays” in general, are going to be quite a challenge to manage in this year of a “Great Pandemic,” already set to eclipse in impact and importance any eventual “Person of the Year” that Time may designate, if not the virus itself. COVID-19 looms over “the Holidays” as a lightning rod, threatening to sop up all the energy traditionally devoted at this time to the festivities of eating, drinking, decorating and merrymaking with friends and family.
Who is worthy?

Who is worthy of Jesus Christ? Who is worthy to receive him in Holy Communion?
Always with us

In these Covid times, plans and projects are being upended, or at least postponed. So many of us are in a bit of process overload so “deadlines” have to be extended.
Playing politics

Throughout his life Jesus was embroiled in political controversy. No sooner was he born when Herod, a routine menace of a petty local tyrant, wanted him eliminated as a threat to his authority, based on prophetic messages he had received from his experts and the visit of the Magi.
Accompanying our priests

I can only imagine — though I prefer not to — how dispiriting it must be to many of the faithful to read about the scandalous behavior of some priest whom they have known and loved.