When you think of religion in Asia, one automatically thinks of Buddhism and Confucianism. You can imagine how surprised I was when I found out that in South Korea today, a tiny fraction of the population is Confucian, 26% is Buddhist, and 26% is Christian – 10% of whom are Catholic. The means that Christianity is tied, numerically speaking, as the largest religion in that Asian nation. This is truly remarkable considering that Christianity was introduced there just over 200 years ago, and the first native-born priest was ordained only in 1846.
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On the Inside; On the Outside
The past couple of months have been crazy at our house. We had been preparing to send off our twins to college, so we had a whole bunch of errands and things to do to get them ready. So now, we all three of our sons in college – in three different states, and my wife Stephanie and I find ourselves alone again.
Around the same time, the Beloit College Mindset List came out for the Class of 2016, the same year as our twins entering college. This is a non-scientific report that comes out every year to remind teachers that college freshmen see the world in a much different way than you and I. Here are some of the facts: Read More
For those of you who do not know me, I am one of those people who doesn’t need a lot of sleep. I can easily get by on just five to six hours a night, sometimes (and often times) much less than that. It is both a blessing and a curse. Read More
This week, my wife Stephanie and I advanced one step closer to having an empty house. Some may say that this was a traumatic week for us. With one son already away at college, we took another son and moved him into college mid week. We take the remaining son to college this weekend. It’s hard to believe that our boys are off to college when it wasn’t that long ago that we were there ourselves.
Here is a beautiful quote on this Feast of the Assumption, compliments of Saint Bernard…
LET US WALK TOGETHER: thoughts of a Catholic Bishop: A Quote from Saint Bernard of Clairvaux on this Fe…: “In dangers, in doubts, in difficulties, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let not her name depart from your lips, never suffer it to leave you…
Mr. and Mrs. Rodriquez came to our sharing parish picnic. They have five sons and each son has a sister who has five daughters, each of whom has one brother each. How many of them came to the picnic?
What I just shared with you is a riddle, and no doubt that you are trying to come up with an answer. Some of us feel the need to be able to explain and reconcile everything more than others. (I am one of those people, and it drives my wife nuts!) But generally, most of us like things to make sense, and we like to know the answer. Read More
Last week, my wife and I (and two additional chaperones) took 14 teens from our parish on our annual Summer Mission Trip. This summer, we chose to go to a Native American Reservation in Winnebago, Nebraska.
It was in Winnebago where we lived in community with other teens from Nebraska, Missouri, California and Massachusetts at St. Augustine’s Indian Mission. The Winnebago Reservation is home to the Ho-Chunk tribe, and was founded in 1909 by Saint Catherine Drexel. She actually had walked on the grounds where we walked, and we all thought that was really cool. Read More
Are you tired? Are the worries of life slowing you down? Is there a heavy weight upon your shoulders? Then today’s Gospel reading from Matthew should be of interest to you:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you.”
It is so easy for us to take things for granted. It is so easy for us to become negative because of all of the bad things that are going on around us. It is so easy for us to get wrapped up in the drama of our lives, along with our ups and downs and troubles and trials.
Now more than ever, there is a need for us to try and live our lives more fully, and always in the present moment and not letting our heartaches about the past or our anxieties about tomorrow cheat us out of the riches of today. Read More
It’s the fifth of July, and it’s going to be another hot summer day. After surviving a scorching July 4th of 102 degrees, it should be interesting how this day will shape up. Temperatures are climbing again, forecasted to be around 103 degrees or so, with high humidity. It is very important to stay hydrated, and to begin the day on the right foot. Read More
