Dear All, This last year has made all of us more aware than we would ever want to be of the woeful inadequacy and fragility of our American way of life. The most obvious areas are health care, education, policing and housing.

Dear All, Not long ago I read a really interesting article. In it the author insisted that sin does not exist. I told you it was interesting!

Dear All, With the distinction between sin and guilt firmly under our belts, it becomes really easier – or not – to understand how it is that the Church can love sinners while hating sin. Not all of those who do bad things (sins) are bad people (guilty).

Dear All, With the distinction between sin and guilt firmly under our belts, it becomes really easier – or not – to understand how it is that the Church can love sinners while hating sin.

Dear All, Except for the Reformation doctrine of total bondage of the will, all of the more familiar rationales for not believing in sin are actually treated by the Catholic Church as mitigators of guilt.

Dear All, Shortly after his election, Pope Francis was asked to describe himself. His answer was a classic. First; a sinner.

Dear All, As you can tell from the insert in this week’s bulletin, the worse, to which the bad inevitably comes has befallen the Diocese of Burlington. Parishes are going without priests and Masses because there are not enough priests to go around.

Dear All, Many years ago, I was blown away when Pope John Paul II informed a congregation of American natives that in you, Christ is Indian, because you are the body of Christ and he lives in you.

Dear All, By no means, am I vain enough to think that I have something meaningful to say about the Chauvin- Floyd matter.

Dear All, It seems to me that the ethics of those who live in the light of the Resurrection are somewhat different from those who live in or by any other light.

Dear All, I cannot help observing that Pilate and the High Priest were the two embodiments of law and order in the world of first century Palestine.

Dear All, I have never made any secret of my position on gun control: the more the merrier! Because this is a currently hot-button issue in the world of politics, I want to use it as a ‘tip of an iceberg’ topic with which to explore the oddity that is Catholic Christian morality. Along the way, I will also have to talk about the oddity that is the American political system.

Dear All, Before some politician tells us that we should thank him for getting things ‘back to normal’, I want to take a few hundred words to think about what we have learned about our old normal and what we might consider before we return to it. Let us begin with what we have learned in this season of pandemic.

Dear All, On this ‘rejoice’ Sunday, let me take the time to invite you to rejoice with me about Pope Francis’ recent trip to Iraq

Dear All, The readings for Sunday III in Lent are soooooo full of so many things that I am taking the expedient of sharing some thoughts with you about the first reading – The Ten Commandments – in this forum.

Dear All, Someone asked me the other day to explain the Lord’s Prayer. Why? It seemed disjointed and disorganized. Half of it is given over to ‘buttering up’ the Divinity and the other to a strange collection of disparate petitions.

Dear All, People tell me that I talk too much about myself. Of course, I think not. Especially, when I have learned something for myself that I think might be helpful for other folks – y’all. So here we go.

Dear All, It is ironic that, on the biggest candy day of the year, I get to talk about Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent; but stranger things have happened.

Dear All, Both Peter and Paul had experienced the merciful presence of the Risen Christ in their lives. Thus, each was convinced that, if even sin could not keep Christ away, no good thing – not even circumcision – could do so

Dear All, Amid all the kerfuffle of inaugurations, mitten commentary, and vaccine politics, I forgot to mention the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.