NPR featured a story about a growing shortage of sand in the world. It makes sense. Sand is used in construction, especially in concrete. It is also used in making glass. Both concrete and glass are in abundance…and they will be primary components in our new church building.The featured story gained some notoriety in that it captured people’s imagination. If you  have been ...

I walked barefoot through my backyard to pick some flowers for the kitchen table. The lawn was spongey, still soggy even though it was a couple days after the latest rain.            Earlier in the week it had rained a lot. A lot. And it had stormed. At first the thirsty ground had soaked up the water. The rain was better than any sprinkling system. ...

          In just a couple of weeks earth movers and other big pieces of construction machinery will be entering our parish property. Construction will begin on our long-awaited house for the church.            Have you perhaps noticed that I always refer to it as the church building or the house for the ...

  A farmer friend allowed me to pick wild black raspberries on his property. These bushes love to grow and produce on the very edge of the woods, which his farm has a lot of.            At first, I thought I was a week early and only found a few berries. Then I moved to another area and the bushes were full of ripe and ripening berries.  ...

 I don’t really know why they do it, but I love seeing dogs stick their heads out car windows as their owners drive down the street. Yesterday I watched a large dog put his head far out the passenger-side back window. The faster the car went, the more the dog seemed to enjoy it.            Perhaps it is that dogs love the rush of fresh air ...

 I was ordained on May 25, 1974. Today is the anniversary of the eve of that ordination. I recall it rather well.            That evening the ten of us to be ordained arrived at the Cathedral for a rehearsal. It was thorough but not in a painstaking way. We were to start the Mass by walking up the aisle in procession and then joining our ...