As the final days of the academic year come into view, there is a familiar rhythm in our Catholic academies in Brooklyn and Queens.

As the Easter season comes to a conclusion, it might be worthwhile to reflect on the blessing of the number of people who were fully initiated into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil services on Holy Saturday.

I give thanks to God for these 25 years of priesthood and for every person who, through my ministry, has experienced the presence of God in their life.

Our Lady of the Skies Chapel serves travelers, airline employees, airport workers, security personnel, families, and all who seek a quiet place of prayer.

Here are just a few lessons I learned from going to Mass every day for a month.

Here in New York, we should try to grow as big as the March for Life in Washington, D.C., in order to reverse abortion laws.

Today, the church in Delaware — together with nine counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore — serves nearly a quarter million Catholics across 57 parishes, 18 missions, and 29 schools, a striking testament to a Catholic community that began generations earlier in log chapels and missionary outposts.

A number of springs ago, I went to the Easter Vigil Mass with the joyous anticipation of Easter, though a bit muted. That year, my dad was journeying through what I knew — but did not want to believe — were the final months of his earthly life. 

Jesus says in the Bible, “Don’t throw your pearls before swine. They’ll trample them under their feet.” Meaning, not everyone can recognize the value of what is precious.

I now know what Jesus meant when he said, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Mark 10:14).