In a meeting with the Bishops of the United States in 2008, Pope Benedict XVI said: “What is needed above all, at this time in the history of the church in America, is a renewal of that apostolic zeal which inspires her shepherds actively to seek out the lost, to bind up those who have…
Over the last couple of weeks now, if you have been to daily Mass, there have been a couple of occasions in our Gospels where we have seen these encounters happen with Jesus and the unclean spirits. It always surprises me how in these interactions, in these Gospel stories, it is often the unclean spirits…
Today we light the second candle in our Advent wreath, known as the Bethlehem Candle. As I said in my homily last weekend, it symbolizes peace and preparation. It should invite us to a moment of reflection: are we making space within our hearts to welcome the Lord? Are we making preparations for the coming…
Today marks a very special day in the life of the Church. It’s a day when we not only begin a new liturgical year, but it is also a day when we begin an extraordinary time of grace. Today, we begin the Season of Advent, a season when we focus on waiting and hopeful expectation…
Mother Teresa once said: “Many today are starving for ordinary bread. But there is another kind of hunger – the hunger to be wanted, to be loved, to be recognized. Nakedness, too, is not just the want of clothes, but also about loss of dignity, purity, self-respect. And homelessness is not just want of a…
As human beings, sometimes we become fascinated on what everyone else thinks – whether that’s opinions on political candidates, the direction of our government, the important social issues of our day, the responses to various situations and circumstances, the decisions of Church leaders. We all just want to know what people think. So often, we…
This might come as a surprise to many of you – to others maybe not so much – but I am not the most patient person. In fact, I’m not really that patient at all. You can ask my brother priests about that and they will absolutely agree with that statement, especially Fr. Martin. I…
On the eve of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in December 1990, Pope St. John Paul II released his encyclical letter Redemptoris Missio. In it, he wrote about the mission of the Church, the mission of all of us as the people of God, to carry out and bring to completion the mission of…
Cardinal Joseph Zen is the 91-year-old Bishop Emeritus of Hong Kong. Over the last several decades now, he has been an outspoken critic of the Chinese government and its treatment of its citizens, specifically calling out issues regarding human rights, political freedom, and religious liberty. He has organized financial support for the underground Church in…
Jesus never promised us that being one of his disciples would be easy. In fact, quite the contrary. Throughout the Gospels, we see how Jesus shares with His disciples just how much hardship and suffering they will have to endure simply for following Him and spreading the Good News of salvation. Our Gospel reading for…
Fr. Tom Pringle 