When I was very small, my mother’s sister Patricia died at a very young age. I don’t remember as I was still an infant when her death occurred. What I do remember is that for many years after, my whole family would drive to my grandparents’ church and join with them and my aunts and uncles and cousins on the Saturday closest to “Aunt Pat’s” anniversary for a memorial Mass. It was usually in the lower church, the organist and cantor would sing the Requiem Mass parts, and the priest would wear black (later on white). This would al...

Read More

As we approach Thanksgiving Day, it occurs to me that giving thanks is much more than a one-day event. The Church emphasizes the importance of giving thanks to God as a continual practice in the life of the believer and teaches that thanksgiving should be a pillar of our spirituality. I know this to be true; however, how do you give thanks in the midst of tragedy? As human beings, we are beset by events that can be truly horrendous: the loss of a spouse or a child, the loss of a home by fire, the loss of a job, and events much, much worse — too horrible to even con...

Read More