In 1996, the U.S. bishops put together a pastoral plan for ministry to young adults entitled “Sons and Daughters of the Light.” Since then, dioceses have been making young adult ministry a ministry staple, but everyone has gone about it differently. Some have focused on trying to establish ministries in parishes and others have created […]

Raise your hand if you have shopped on Black Friday. What’s the longest you ever waited in line? If you spent hours in line, then it was probably because you purchased something that you REALLY wanted. Something you judged was worth waiting for. Next Sunday, we enter the season of Advent, the season of waiting […]

No. 4 on the “top 10 list”: “Honor your father and your mother.” I will honor my mother by speaking to her request, bereavement. The upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and Christmas season can trigger warm memories for everyone, like Grandma’s stuffing, dad preparing the nativity scene, or ripping through wrapping paper. But, sometimes tough memories surface […]

Tomorrow, we’re holding the Young Adult Speaker Series at Annunciation Parish in Waimea. The title of the event is “Why Catholic?” In today’s Mass reading, St. Paul speaks of the “war within” — “So, then, I discover the principle that when I want to do right, evil is at hand” (Rom 7:21). Last week Thursday, […]

Last week, Lisa Gomes and I attended the annual Region XI Youth and Young Adult Ministry Meeting in Orange, Calif. During our second day of meetings, we had a three-hour mini-retreat with Dr. Kathleen Schinhofen. She spoke of many things, but the idea of “planning out of reality” really struck me. We can get caught […]

I was asking God what I should write about and I was drawn to the “Concise Dictionary of Theology.” I found the entry “Lumen Gloria” (Light of Glory), which refers to the opening of our “eyes” to the beatific vision, God in all of his splendor “face to face.” St. Aquinas defined the beatific vision […]

Toward the end of his World Youth Day homily in Rio de Janeiro, Pope Francis said, “the life of Jesus is a life for others. It is a life of service.” He then quoted St. Paul, “I have made himself a slave to all, that I might win the more” (1Cor 9:19) to show us, […]

“Go and make disciples of all nations” was the theme of this year’s World Youth Day. It is from Jesus’ commissioning of the Eleven (no Judas at this point) in Matthew 28:19. Jesus continues, “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe […]

It is good to be back from World Youth Day! There is so much to share from my experience in Rio de Janeiro, so I will use the next couple of columns to share some of the experience with you here. In his homily for the World Youth Day Mass, Pope Francis offered us three […]

I am reading “Rebuilt” by Father Michael White and Tom Corcoran. The book tells of how their parish was “rebuilt” from being a self-serving community into a place of growth and discipleship. It focuses on changing the consumerist culture. In chapter 5, the authors describe the parish when they arrived. “It was clear the purpose […]