The other day, my sister was telling me about a conversation she had with the vicar at her parish, a young priest who is assigned to work with the youth. Don Alessandro told her that he is known by the nickname of “Fr. Bread and Water,” and this is why.

Years ago, at my “day job,” I parked next to the car of a co-worker. The bumper proudly displayed a brand-new sticker: “Methodists: preaching the Gospel for 200 years.” I grinned, walked into the office, shook the owner’s hand and said: “Catholics: preaching the Gospel for 2000 years.” I can’t understand why she removed the [...]

The desert of southern New Mexico witnessed my first efforts at gardening.  In the very small village at the border where we lived, most folks landscaped their yards to complement the dry environment, practicing xeriscape before it became popular.  Some insisted on a lawn, at least in the front yard.  The yard of the house [...]

Hero: “A person of great courage, spirit, etc., especially one who has undergone great danger or difficulty.” That’s the first definition we find in the Webster Illustrated Contemporary Dictionary. To this definition I would add: “and whereby accomplished great good.” We admire heroes, and consider them “great people.” Often we wish we could imitate them, [...]

With this sentence, “there was no self,” a film producer described a friend of my dad’s, and mine, Fr. Cesare Colombo, a PIME Missionary, a splendid man, called by God to give up everything, his very self, in service of  those whom the Lord entrusted to him.  This is his story. Fr. Cesare was the [...]

Religious Education registration forms for 2009-2010 are now being accepted.  Please, pick one up at the Church after Mass this weekend or print it out online and bring it to the Church Rectory.

Every culture produces proverbs, adages, aphorisms, truisms.  No matter what we call them, they are short, often humorous sayings that come from popular wisdom and common experience.  For instance, if we say to someone: “Act in haste, repent at leisure” we are telling them that they are making what is probably an impulsive, and probably [...]

As Holy Trinity and the City are trying to find a way to “save” our bell tower, I can’t help but think of how much church bells were a part of my growing up in Italy. “We will ring our bells!” Every Italian student knows the famous answer that the general of the Florentine army, [...]

Now that we are done with Catholic Calisthenics, let’s go over a few points of “etiquette.”  As I mentioned last week, those of us with a few gray hairs remember kinder, gentler times.  When kids used to call grown ups “Mr.” and “Mrs.,” when four letter words were not part of the vocabulary, let alone [...]

Bowing Hopefully, we have covered most of “Holy Mass basics,” but occasionally people see us Catholics do “strange” things, such as bowing, crossing ourselves, etc. In an attempt to include all of our “exercises,” let’s go over bowing because, of all of our practices, this seems to be the most misunderstood.  But, if we stop [...]