Our Hope

Yesterday evening, I was helping lead a Life Teen social event at my parish, celebrating the beatification of (now) Blessed Pope John Paul II. At one point during the night, a youth received a text. And then another youth received a text. And the exclamation from both was the same: "Hey guys! Osama Bin Laden is dead!" Immediately there was an eruption of discussion: Did he get shot? Who shot him? Did they simply find his body? Was the US involved? The announcement of the death of a guy who many presume to be behind so much of the pain and heartache in recent history was jarring. I for one, was shocked that people were already sending texts about it. But one of the youth cut to the heart of the matter. When someone again declared, "It's true! He's dead!" this youth meekly asked,

"...Should we...be happy about this?"

You Call This Good?

I was planning on writing something about The Easter Triduum, and in particular something about Good Friday. But Catholic songwriter Matt Maher was one step ahead of the game, and has made a Holy Week video series, posting one video a day, from Passion Sunday to Easter Sunday. I really encourage you to watch the series, especially today's video about the Lord's Passion:

From One Season to Another

The first full week of January 2010 is coming to a close. The year of 2009 is under our belts, and the freshness of the new year is staring us in the face with relatives getting ready to go home, students getting back into routine, and the last hoorahs of the 2 week break quickly fading. Amongst all this, you may notice certain things: carols are no longer sung, people are taking their lights down, and Starbucks is getting rid of their holiday drink lineup. Yep, that's right - the Christmas season is over.

Those 12 days, from Dec. 25th to Jan. 6th (Feast of the Epiphany) always mark such an exciting time each year. The birth of Christ gives everyone the tremendous opportunity to make way for thoughtfulness, peace, and love. The reminder of His birth helps everyone to gather together as a family and to be thankful.