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Merry Christmas to you all! Perhaps my favorite Christmas hymn is “O Little Town of Bethlehem”. I’m not sure why, but I find it peaceful and moving. The lyrics of the refrain go as such: O little town of Bethlehem How still we see thee lie Above thy…

In today’s column, we will be looking at the beauty of the O Antiphons. A great tradition in the Church that many might not know about, but offer some beautiful opportunities for reflection. The Roman Church has been singing the "O" Antiphons since…

Upcoming on December 12th is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This apparition of Our Lady in Mexico City is very close to my heart. In fact, I have made a pilgrimage to the Shrine to see the Tilma twice. Seeing the Tilma in person does not…

This next week begins Penance Service week here in Johnson County. With that happening, I think it would be great for us to examine how to make a good confession, and best practices in the confessional. When preparing for confession, it is important…

Happy 34th Sunday, Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe! This is the last Sunday of the Church year. We begin a new Church year with Advent next week. This week we also will celebrate Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful…

Recently, I have received several questions regarding different aspects of receiving the Eucharist at Mass, from the communion fast, to posture, to the number of times allowed in a day. So let's get to it! First off, what we often refer to as the…

Concluding our series on prayer and the Mass, let's look at the practice of offering a Prayer of Thanksgiving after Mass has concluded. I will pull heavily from an article entitled The Quiet the Speaks - Thanksgiving after Mass by Fr. Boniface Hicks…

After looking at ways for us to focus at Mass, let's now examine ways that we may participate at Mass. The Second Vatican Council, in its document Sacrosanctum Concilium, used a pair of words that were a large part of what we call the Liturgical…

This week, as it seems that this is a good point to continue a series, we will be looking at how to focus at Mass. I often hear that people struggle to focus, daydream, and get distracted at Mass. That's ok! We are only human, and we should do the…

This week, after last week's article on the need to prepare well for Mass, let's look at some ways we can prepare for Mass. Show up early. If you are able, showing up early is the best thing to do. Sometimes we have kids that  dictate our schedule…