Understanding the True Kingship of Jesus

Today is the last Sunday of the liturgical year. It is on this Sunday that the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Christ, King of the Universe. It is one of my favorite solemnities. The Church gives us this powerful image of Christ as King, ruling over all the earth.

Joyful Anticipation as Advent Approaches

In just a few short weeks, we will begin the season of Advent, which is the start of a new liturgical year. Advent is one of my favorite liturgical seasons. Although the shortest in time, only four weeks, it is, for me, a time of deep spiritual preparation.

True Wealth: Giving Beyond Monetary Gifts

We are blessed as a parish community to have St. Teresa of Calcutta’s Missionaries of Charity sisters here in our convent. Mother Teresa herself brought over the first group of Missionaries of Charity sisters here to the Diocese of Brooklyn at Our Lady of Victory convent almost 30 years ago.

The Transformative Power Of Loving Our Neighbors

My family and I were very lucky to have developed a great relationship with our neighbors. We all moved into our respective townhouses in Brooklyn around the same time. I vividly remember my parents bringing my sister and me to meet the neighbors. From the moment we all met, I had a feeling this was going to be a good fit for all of us.

Darkness to Light: Insights From Jeremiah and Mark

On this 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time, we can’t help but feel the rapidly approaching end of the year. The trees know it, as their enchantingly colored leaves are blowing away in the autumn wind.

Seeking a World Free From Evil

Just as I sat down to write this reflection, I received a phone call. Apparently, someone using my name was trying to scam a parishioner. This has happened to me and other people I know, and the general consensus is to assure people it wasn’t us and move on.

Pursuing Wisdom in Today’s World

As this year’s election cycle ramps up, we might lament that there never seems to be an ideal candidate. Certainly, we must be realistic, we know, but choosing “the lesser of two evils” doesn’t make us feel much better in the booth.

The Nature of Art: Insights From Jacques Maritain

When I was in my fourth year of college (and my third year in the major seminary in Huntington), one of my philosophy professors, Father Frank Tyrell, assigned a philosophy paper to our class, which was equivalent to a thesis. 

The Significance of Communion and Unity

As a seminarian, I spent a summer in Mexico working on my Spanish. I grew up speaking Spanish, but my grammar left much to be desired. Part of the program involved a professor teaching us history and culture, and one of the lessons that hit me the hardest was his description of the arrival of Spanish
missionaries.