With last month’s meeting in Lisbon, I have now completed nine World Youth Days. My firstwas over 30 years ago. Each one brings many surprises. When a million or so young people are added to a city’s streets almost overnight there are always trials, chaos, and a bit of confusion. […]

The year 2022 was one of the most challenging years of my life, if not the most difficult one. Luckily the year 2023 has been one of the best of my life, filled with family time, fun and good news. Even though these years couldn’t have been more different, God […]

Jesus asked his disciples, “And you, who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15) There is a reason that after Peter’s response to Jesus that he is the Messiah, Jesus gives Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven.  It’s because Peter gets it.  He understands that Jesus is […]

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 16:19) When I was sent to Rome in 2010 to take a course, I was assigned an apostolate in St. Peter’s Basilica. Every day that I entered the basilica, I would notice a beautiful design of two keys […]

Psychologists define forgiveness as, “a conscious, deliberate decision to release feelings of resentment or vengeance toward a person who has harmed us, regardless of whether or not the person actually deserves forgiveness.”  If you’re like me, forgiveness isn’t easy, especially when the hurt is deep.  Yet, forgiveness is a necessity, […]

Due to life circumstances, today I found myself without access to a computer. I had a commitment to write a blog for Build the Faith and my first instinct was to postpone this task until the following week. I had the perfect excuse and contemplated using my hours on some […]

This year, on May 13th, I was ordained a transitional deacon at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, and I was assigned to the Immaculate Conception Parish in Marlborough, MA. My ordination came at the end of my three years of itinerant missionary work; the first year and a half […]

In today’s First Reading from the First Book of Kings, we hear the story of how the Lord appeared to King Solomon in a dream. In the dream, God simply said,”Ask something of me and I will give it to you.”Do you ever think for a moment what it would […]

We are in the middle of the summer. We are in the midst of a time that we call “rest.”  It’s something we wait for the whole year because we feel overwhelmed by work commitments and the different tensions of family life. Usually, it is as if we look at […]

A sower went out to sow…. (Matthew 13:3)Most of us know the Parable of the Sower well. It is one of my favorites.  Perhaps the reason I like it so much is because I am an avid gardener and I love to grow things pretty much any place I can. […]