St. Francis Xavier
Bishop Kelly
Today is the feast of St. Francis Xavier, a remarkable man. He was born in 1506 in Navarre, now part of Spain. Depending on who you talk to, Navarre is part of the Basque country. In any case, Francis was Basque and Basque was his …
Questions and Answers
One time, in November of 1999, when I was living in McCall, I got a strange phone call. A secretary from one of the other churches in McCall asked me if I was going to attend a meeting that night. I asked her what was …
Reading is a Journey of those who cannot take the Train
“La lectura es el viaje de los que no pueden tomar el tren.” Reading is a journey of those who cannot take the train. These words were written by an early 20th Century playwright named Francis de Croisset. They express the magic of transport the …
Veterans Day 2014
It was called “The Great War,” not because it was good, but because it was big. Twenty million people had died. Less than twenty years later, an even greater war began. After that, it was called World War One. Fighting officially ended with an Armistice, …
Religion is a Team Sport
Until May 29th, 1953, no one had ever stood on top of Mount Everest. At nearly 30,000 feet, it is the highest place on earth. On that day, two men, Edmund Hillary and Tenzig Norgay became the first to successfully reach the top of Everest. …
St. Paul
St. Paul had a way of irritating people. St. Peter and the other original Apostles never did trust him, the Jewish leaders hated him and the Romans eventually executed him. Yet, he managed to get more converts and establish more early churches than anyone of …
All Saints Day
Saturday, November 1st, is All Saints’ Day and Sunday is All Souls’ Day. In Old English, the word for “saints’ was “hallows.” Thus, the Eve of All Hallows was called “All Hallows Eve.” It still is a holy day, however, like so many other religious …
In Memory of Jack Cilek
Yesterday, one of our students stopped me in the corridor between classes and said, “Father, can I ask you a question?” I answered, “of course” and thought this is a school. This is a place where questions are always in order. And this was the …
Pope Saint John Paul II
Today is the feast of Pope Saint John Paul II. It is the first time his Feast Day as a canonized saint has been observed. He was declared a saint by Pope Francis earlier this year on April 27th. On April 2, 2005, I was …
Honoring our Grandparents
3 eggs 1 large cup sugar 1 large cup walnuts (chopped) 1 large cup dates (chopped fine) 1 tbsp flour Mix dates and flour 1 tsp baking powder Mix above with fork in above order Put in greased and flowered pan (8×8) Also put pan …
