We are fast approaching the end of January, the time of year when the new resolutions and routines we started are beginning to seem just a little bit tedious. Maybe you just started noticing a little dust on the new exercise bike you got for Christmas or your wallet is feeling a little lighter even […]
Category: Discipleship
It seems like the fall season is a sprint. It just moves so quickly. And then, of course, the holidays are upon us, ready or not. In fact, we have a saying around here that beginning on the day after Halloween we need to be thinking and acting like Christmas is here. That’s why this […]
God has prepared good works for us to do in advance, works that he is counting on us to do, that will remain undone if we fail to do them. And one of the principle places he wants us to serve in our church family: we call it ministry. In this Sunday’s Second Reading St. […]
In many countries the period before Lent is called “Carnival,” originally a Latin phrase meaning literally “farewell to meat.” The phrase was a reference to the rather rigorous approach to the whole extended season of Lent observed by the faithful and the devout in many places. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and extends until the […]
Last week my pastor, Father Michael White, posted a blog which underscored the value we place on programs for infants and toddlers that parents can use while they’re attending Mass. Within hours his Twitter account lit up with dozens of responses, mostly negative. Fr. Michael acknowledges that he could have done a better job of […]
This Sunday brings one of my favorite readings from one of my favorite books of the Bible. We are looking at a passage from Nehemiah, which is all about rebuilding. Nehemiah gets permission from the king of Persia to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls around the city, which were broken and a […]
In just a few days, your church will be experiencing your greatest opportunity of the whole year. Are you just getting it over and done with or capitalizing on it for your long-term strategic advantage? Is Christmas only to be managed or can you make it all about your mission? Here are 5 things to […]
You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Acts 1.8 It is no secret that many churches these days are closing. There are lots of reasons why, but here’s a reason not often discussed: missions. Or rather how their lack of mission is a contributing […]
At this time of the year, we see lots of people in their brown missions shirts at Nativity, many serving here in our city of Baltimore. Others go further afield. Their send-off Mass a few weeks ago offered an impressive sight: nearly 100 missionaries serving in Haiti, Kenya, and West Virginia. Relief work is sometimes […]
Around here we like to talk about our “Rally Cry” or what our friend Patrick Lencioni calls “the thing that must be done now.” This time last year it was obviously finishing the new church building (which we did, ahead of schedule, under budget, and with no debt). Next, it was our annual signature event, […]
