I’m feeling a bit exhausted as I write this. I’ve got an adorable child who should take up farming, because she is convinced the world needs to wake up when the sun rises, if not before. I just returned from a catechetical conference in Steubenville, Ohio, where the organizers schedule sessions from 9AM until 10PM. Whenever I’m out of the office for a week, the regular works backs up and awaits my return. I also have a side gig as an editor. (I know. I don’t catch mistakes in my own column. Even editors need editors.) Oh yeah… and I’m writing a sequel to my novel, Skull Valley.

Is there a person who abandoned, avoided, or deserted you in your time of need?

How did you react? What impact did that have on the relationship? Did you find it in your heart to forgive?

It was only recently—I hate to admit—that I realized something very particular about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

As he was arrested, scourged, and killed upon a cross, the vast majority of his disciples scattered. They did not stand with him. Only one showed up at the cross.

Well. It’s July of 2021. And when this month was ushered in, this parish has now become the parish I’ve spent the most time as an employee. Of the previous five parishes, the record had been five years at both Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Scottsdale and Our Lady Queen of Angels in Newport Beach, California. Your time in purgatory is now officially the longest.

Our parish is full of little treasures that are designed to help you in your walk with the Lord. It could be our Monday Bible Study that breaks down the context and deeper meaning of the coming Sunday’s readings. It might be the Mary Garden tucked between the Church and the Parish Office. It could be the free access to Formed.org the parish gives to every parishioner. Or it could be the parish library.