Rubens, Venus and Adonis, 1630s “Sometimes the hardest thing to give up is actually the thing most likely to make us better.” The icebreaker question drew out a number of “things of the world” we thought were both impossible to give up and critical to our very happiness. Often these fell into the generic “wine,
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St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York City. What a night at the big cathedral! Every “highway and byway” within the city block’s expansive holy space was filled with visitors, of every possible background, race, country, and religion, all mysteriously drawn to the beauty of the place. Some came to find God, some came to pray,
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New York, Feast of Padre Pio. This morning the city awoke to a chill, clear autumn day; the storms of yesterday have passed. The promise of a glorious fall is in the air. And today’s first reading, from Ecclesiastes 3:1-11, seems right on cue. There is indeed a time for all things, and through all
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Thy Kingdom Come! Dear Missionaries, I hope this note finds you well, enjoying the last warm days of summer! Schools are open, Covid restrictions have been lifted – life has started to feel normal! For us apostles, normal means we continue to bring souls closer to our Lord, Jesus Christ! Next week, on Friday, we
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NYC Holy Week Mission Day 7 – Holy Saturday St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, SoHo. Some of our missionaries like to refer to Holy Saturday as “Last Chance Saturday”, i.e. the last chance before Easter to get in that Confession you’ve been promising us you’d do all week. And for those of you keeping up on
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NYC Holy Week Mission Day 6 – Good Friday “And my soul shall live for Him, my children serve Him. They shall tell of the Lord for generations yet to come, Declare His faithfulness to peoples yet unborn: These things the Lord has done.” Ps 22: 31-32 Prince and Mott, St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral. As
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Drizzly, rainy day today. Feels like Good Friday. Uptown, the NY Tri-State youth team has already set out on their cross walk from Columbus Circle. I know from past years they will be touching hundreds if not thousands of souls with their witness as they collect prayers for their crosses on the long walk to
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It’s Good Friday and I don’t remember what’s so good about it. I’m looking at the clouds settle in the highlands located way north of Manhattan and I’m wondering why it feels nice to have a cloudy gray sky today. I’m thinking about walls. There are walls all around St Patricks Old Cathedral. These are
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It’s been a long night on the streets. We started in mid-afternoon and have just brought the last soul in. Into the Promised Land. Into the Upper Room. Monsignor Sakano reminds us of the transformative power of grace, of the upper room, and of how by touching our hearts, Jesus gives us his. Jesus converts
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If the last two nights were the story of a handful of missionaries panning for souls in a fast moving, at times overwhelming, secular river of souls, tonight was almost the polar opposite. Tonight, the entire Cheshire seminary arrived, in force. We sent them out in teams of four into the streets, throughout the parish
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