My dentist retired a couple of months ago. His replacement is a young man with dark skin, long hair and a red bandanna tied at the nape of his neck...

We never met in person, but I remember the first time I heard about you. It was back in 1981, a month after I was ordained a priest.

The gospel reading does not refer to a domestic scenes with children, flowers in a field or bread rising in an oven. Nor does it revel in pastures with sheep or wheat ripe for harvest. Rather, we hear an account of the Passion of Christ and, like sailors on an aircraft carrier, we can’t ignore the deafening rumble of war...

Occasionally, I am asked to join in on meetings with young men who are discerning a call to the priesthood. I admire these young fellows very much. In a society that exalts status, achievement and self-satisfaction, they dare to scan the horizon and seek the road to virtues like fortitude, resilience and self-sacrifice...