On a recent reflection on "Desire and Duty," we saw the importance of doing or embracing God’s will for us at each passing present moment of daily life. In that context we quoted Francis de Sales, "At hundreds of times during the day let us join our life to God’s love"..........…

We have all been called to be disciples of Christ. Our call to discipleship includes: the character of those who are called to be disciples; the need for discernment and decision in following Jesus;.........… 

Early in her friendship with Francis de Sales, Jane de Chantal received some sound advice from Francis on how to attain to Christian holiness while living the busy life of a recent widow and mother of four young children.........…

This week the Church celebrates the beautiful feast of the Assumption of Mary into heaven, body and soul. St. Francis de Sales has some powerful reflections on this feast........…   

I write this reflection during a pause in the retreat schedule for the three postulants who became Oblate novices on Saturday, August 4, 2018. It is such a privilege to share these days of retreat with three fine young men.......… 

Each Monday morning, the provincial sends a newsletter to the Oblates throughout the province entitled, “Prayer Matters.” New to the role of provincial, I have just begun sending this to my fellow Oblates. When I think about the title of this communication, many interpretations come to mind.....…   

St. Francis de Sales was a man of great balance. He knew the importance of taking time from the busyness of life just to kick back a little and relax a bit.
In one of his writings he makes that point in this way....…   

All 12 young soccer players and their coach have been rescued from a dark and flooded cave in Thailand. What those boys and their parents experienced is truly incredible. Young boys, huddled together, hungry, tired, and scared..........… 

During the week of June 18, we Oblates of the Wilmington-Philadelphia Province met at De Sales University for the 2018 Convocation/Chapter. On Tuesday of that week I was elected Provincial. I am both honored and humbled. I am deeply grateful to my Oblate brothers for the confidence they have placed in me.........…

Fans of the hit comedy, M*A*S*H, which aired for 11 seasons and ended in 1983, may recall the title of the final two-hour episode: Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen. I use this expression not to evoke images of concluding a war, as in the television show that chronicled the human side of the Korean Conflict........… 

Air. We breathe it. We exhale it. It gives us life, and when it leaves us for the last time, we die.

It envelopes us always, but remains invisible. We are seldom aware or conscious of it, but without it, our embodied thinking would soon cease........…  

Oblate Father Ed Ogden once reflected that getting stuck in traffic is a fine opportunity to stand still in solidarity with the poor. His point was profound and simple: Immobilized or slowed by traffic, we are then most like the poor because we, too, have so few choices.......…  

It is rare for the Catholic Church to be praised in the mainstream media recently. The scourge of clergy sexual abuse and the painful response of the church’s leadership in most cases provide an understandable rationale for this trend......…  

Today the church celebrates the Feast of the Visitation of Mary, recalling the event where the mother of Jesus travels to the home of her aging cousin, Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist. Parallels abound for these two women: both are pregnant, their pregnancies are essentially impossible......… 

As our senior high school students prepare for their upcoming graduation, their thoughts and memories may begin to turn to the many spaces which defined their experience of high school: The classrooms where they aced tests, debated with teachers, and occasionally took a discreet afternoon nap......… 

This famous prayer of St. Augustine illustrates well the place of the Spirit in each disciple: within the person. Frequently, religious art and imagery depict the Holy Spirit coming to believers from the outside. It is our belief that the Spirit of the living God is placed within us at our baptism and remains with us for the rest of our lives......… 

In the reconciliation room of my church hangs a painting of the “Woman Caught in Adultery” crafted by Brother Mickey McGrath, OSFS. In that depiction the angry crowd stands to the left and the humiliated woman stands to the right. Jesus stands in the middle. Reading the account from John’s Gospel, however, I always get the feeling that the crowd is surrounding her. .....…