On Saturday May 24th, Cardinal Sean O’Malley ordained eleven men to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Boston. One of them is a dear friend of mine, as well as a brother in the seminary:  Giovanni Argote. When Giovanni entered the seminary, I was already at the end of my […]

I have never given a commencement address. It seems to me to be different than writing a homily. Sound bites are more important, but of course the focus is on the graduating class and their aspirations for a happy and successful future. As Catholic Christians we know that our purpose […]

At that time the disciples  approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:1‑3)I […]

I was in my early thirties when I started feeling extremely intense anxiety about seemingly nothing even though my life was going well at the time. I had everything I needed to be happy – a fulfilling relationship, a great job, a supportive family, caring friends, and perfect health. Yet, […]

As I write this blog, I am 2 weeks away from celebrating what will be one of the most important days of my daughter’s life. She will be receiving the Sacrament of Holy Communion, the greatest expression of God’s love for humanity! After a two-year preparation, the excitement is sensed […]

I was diagnosed with leukemia when I was 18 years old. Back then people didn’t survive cancer, at least I had never heard of anyone who had. The whole family was in a tailspin, but not my mom; she was too busy scraping us all up off the floor and […]

Today, out of nowhere, I realized that… I am successful!!! It took me a long time to achieve my success, and it is necessary to tell you the story of what happened, so that you can replicate it. It all started one day during my adolescence:  someone had given me […]

In these last months, I have been thinking back to my earliest memory of me ever considering the priesthood. I was probably no older than five or six and my father was asking my brothers and I what we wanted to be when we grew up. When it was my […]

Not long ago, we were dining at home and discussing what it means to be a faithful Catholic in today’s world. We were reflecting on an event in which a person, who is also Catholic, expressed an open view about the possibility that the true path to salvation might be […]

On the first Holy Thursday, Jesus gave us the gift of the priesthood and the Eucharist. Recently, Jesus reminded me of the power of these gifts. Here is how He did it….I was on my way to meet some friends for dinner when my phone rang. Assuming it was another […]