Blog - May 2021 RSS Feed

My friends and neighbors. Shabbat Shalom! It is a joy and an honor to be with you again! Thank you! To be with you is not extraordinary, as I have many times before enjoyed the company and hospitality of Rabbi Davidson, his predecessor Rabbi Posner, the gracious staff, and this historic congregation.

In my last video, I talked about how each day of the week has a special devotion. Each month of the year does as well! Don’t forget that beautiful tradition!

It’s a grand weekend before us at the Archdiocese of New York. Tomorrow we have the joy of ordaining 10 to the priesthood. Sunday is the feast of the Most Blessed Trinity and Monday is Memorial Day. You can watch this morning’s homily here:

Did you know where Bartimaeus was? He was pushed aside by the crowd. Jesus always finds those who are forgotten, neglected, and excluded. Watch this morning’s homily here:

Do you remember the Catholic custom that each day of the week is dedicated to a special devotion? If there’s not a saint’s feast day on a particular day, I celebrate a Votive Mass based on the day’s devotion.

On today’s Conversation with Cardinal Dolan we welcome back Father Dave Dwyer from his sabbatical! I talked about next week’s ordination of 10 new priests, 6 for the Archdiocese of New York. I also reminded people that it’s time to get back to Mass.

It’s fitting we celebrate the feast of Mary, Mother of the Church today. Some say the Church was born when the side of Jesus was opened on the Cross, others say the birthday of the Church is Pentecost.

Today is the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians. Mary defends and protects the followers of her Son, Jesus. That title is particularly invoked when there is persecution of the Church. Use today to pray for our co-religionists who are being persecuted throughout the world.

Happy Birthday to the Church! That’s the classical understanding of this magnificent feast of Pentecost. We cannot have Christ without His Church. He is alive and present in and through His Church. Here’s my homily from this morning’s Mass:

Another beautiful Catholic custom is to have a guardian angel. Each of us have one. God love us so much as His children that He gives us an angel to watch over us our entire lives.

The last couple weeks I’ve been focusing on Catholic devotions and customs. We need to pray every day – here are some customs that help us. In the morning, we make a morning offering. At night, we say our night prayers.

We learn so much about the first days of the Church in the Acts of the Apostles, and we can see the essentials of Church life already in place. You can watch my homily from this morning’s Mass here:

When we pass in front of a church, we should bow our heads, make the sign of the Cross, or tip our hat. It’s an act of reverence to Jesus. It’s a beautiful reminder of Emmanuel – God is with us.

Have you received the Holy Spirit. That’s an important question to contemplate this week as we prepare for Pentecost. Here’s my homily from this morning’s Mass:

Here’s my homily from this morning’s Mass. A powerful help to our prayer is the company of Mary, the mother of Jesus. We pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit, as the Apostles did with Mary, as we await Pentecost Sunday.

Another Catholic custom that I want to remind everyone of is fasting an hour prior to receiving Holy Communion. That used to be taken very seriously. It’s a chance to prepare and make room in your heart and soul for the coming of Jesus.

Here’s my homily from this morning’s Mass. While certain things may seem invisible, it doesn’t mean they aren’t there. That’s a good thing to remember on this Ascension Thursday. Jesus left us, but is still with us.

Today I want to talk to you about Ascension Thursday. 40 days after Easter Jesus ascended to Heaven and returned to His Heavenly Father. In one way we celebrate that Jesus left us and returned to Heaven, but we also celebrate the fact that Jesus remains with us in so many ways.

The three great Holy Days in our Church calendar are Easter, Christmas, & Pentecost. Easter and Christmas are about Jesus. Pentecost is about God the Holy Spirit and the Church. The Holy Spirit comes and the Church is born.

Can I talk to you about novenas today? An essential part of our Catholic faith is prayer, but a Catholic custom that adds power to prayer is the novena. A novena is nine days of prayer for a particular intention.