The beginning of the Gospel this weekend should be something that people might be able to understand in these days of the pandemic. We only need to change one word and it should sound like this, “on the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the coronavirus.”

It was late in the evening when I received a text, “Are you still awake?” It wasn’t long after I sent “yes” that the phone rang. My friend teaches at a school for at-risk youth. He told me a story that got him over the edge.

During the Easter season, we frequently hear the words faith and believe since most often we reflect on scripture passages that focus on being witnesses to the resurrection of Christ. However, this weekend’s readings allow us to go deeper into the core of true faith. It is the necessity of trust that makes our faith authentic.

Today, we hear once again the identity of Jesus as a shepherd. A shepherd that spends most of his time tending and ensuring the well-being of his flock. His primary responsibilities are to protect, nourish, and lead them where they need to go.

By Father John P. Cush, STD On this Divine Mercy Sunday, perhaps we might wish to reflect on what mercy is and what it is not. The late John Cardinal O’Connor of New York chose as his episcopal motto, “There can be no love without justice.” Justice might be considered by some as an interesting […]

The Gospel proclaimed this Easter Sunday, taken from the Evangelist Saint John, places the focus on Saint Mary Magdalene. Liturgically, the Magdalene was raised to the level of a feast day in 2016, with her own proper preface to the Eucharistic Prayer of Mass.

As a young priest, I was blessed to be assigned to Saint Helen’s Parish in Howard Beach. It was a wonderful parish, led by an exemplary pastor, Msgr. Joseph Pfeiffer. Although the parish was established in 1960, the parish church itself was not built until 1979. When it was built, it was decided that on the wall of the sanctuary, there would be a large bronze Risen Christ in lieu of a crucifix (today that Risen Christ is placed on the outside wall of Saint Helen’s Church).

Call me old-fashioned, but when I sit down to write something important, I don’t turn on the computer. First, I write it out with pen on paper. Call me doubly old-fashioned, because I use a fountain pen to do it, not the cheap fountain pens we were taught to use in third grade — the ones that left blue stains on our uniform shirt pockets — but the kind that fills from an ink bottle.

I didn’t get a driver’s license until after my ordination. Growing up in New York City, I never really needed one! On top of that, I couldn’t afford a car, whether new or “(less than) gently used.” I finally wound up with my own wheels when I was given the keys to a 1974 Volkswagen Beetle that its previous owner had abandoned.