Very often, the first Sunday of Advent comes so soon after Thanksgiving that we hear ourselves saying, “Is it Advent already? Where does the time go?” We have been so immersed in the spirit of autumn — from the back-to-school routines to…

God’s voice is never silent ­— he is always calling to us to come nearer, to go deeper, to respond to the love he has for us every day. What’s more, he never stops calling people to religious vocations — to the priesthood, to religious…

The summertime, for me, is really the most wonderful time of the year. I begin waiting for its return from the first cold morning in the autumn, and then in earnest just after the Christmas rush. Taken together, the summer months, with…

My mother had a love for things that were simply beautiful. Our family home had touches of Japanese artwork, and the backyard was laid out more like an Asian garden than a typical New England landscape. Reflecting back, I think my mom had a…

My parents were both raised in Boston. My mom was of Irish Catholic descent, and my dad was a Scottish Presbyterian. Both were hard workers and great dancers who loved a good party. In the late 1950s they built a house in a new development…

We who have been Catholic most of our lives tend to not expect any surprises during the week that begins with Palm Sunday. We know we’re going to do a lot of standing and kneeling, a bit of fasting, and then a lot of feasting. We know the…

When I was a kid, the Reed family’s “Christmas season” began right after our Thanksgiving dinner. After our second helpings, we’d head over to the North Shore Shopping Center in Peabody, Massachusetts. This was not a Black Friday scramble!…

I love the saints. The saints are close to me, often in my mind and with me in my prayers. In some ways it’s tempting to think of the saints as the spiritual “superheroes” of the Church — think Spiderman, Wonder Woman, Captain America. We…

Sometimes I wonder how I made it through six different academic institutions and ended up with numerous degrees. I say that simply because each September I dreaded returning to the classroom. Perhaps I needed a more positive attitude, but I…

In recent years, there have been more and more ways to sell personal items online and make a little spare cash. While we used to have to pay for classified ads in the local newspaper or tack an index card on the bulletin board in the local…