Among the devotional practices of the Church, perhaps none is more popular and more widely prayed than the rosary.

If you follow my thoughts regularly, you will have noticed that I rarely mention the names of partisan political figures.

We have entered a period of response to the pandemic now when there is a great deal of discussion about which social policies are appropriate going forward.

All of us have had the most unusual Lent and Easter that perhaps we will ever experience.

There is a beautiful passage in Scripture about the self-emptying love of God, most clearly seen in Jesus Christ.

As I write this reflection, wildfires ravage Australia, attributed to record high temperatures and record low rainfall.

This new year, this new decade, begins much like the past year, the past decade: wars between countries, wars within countries, nations around the globe

St. Therese. The saint I always associated with my mother.

"Where there is unprecedented evil, God wants to give unprecedented grace."

This past January we celebrated a diocesan Mass in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It took place on Jan. 19 at St. Martin de Porres Church in Buffalo.

Paul writes to the Church of Philippi from jail, "I do not claim that I have already succeeded or have already become perfect.

St. Teresa of Calcutta once said, "This Christmas when Christ comes, will He find a warm heart? Mark the season of Advent by loving and serving others with God's own love and concern."

Two of the Sunday Gospel readings this December are about John the Baptist from Matthew's Gospel. Who was John and what do we know of John and his interactions with Jesus?

Although President George Washington proclaimed the first national day of Thanksgiving in 1789, it didn't become a regular holiday in the United States until 1863.

St. Pope John Paul II, in his powerful encyclical letter "Evangelium Vitae" ("The Gospel of Life"), challengingly said "How can we fail to consider the violence against life done to millions of human beings

On July 24, 1990, the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus of the United States established November as Black Catholic History Month.

By now everyone has heard of Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenage environmental activist on climate change whose campaigning has gained international recognition.

The sixth petition of the "Our Father" reads: "and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." This gives rise to the question "Does God, who is all good, really tempt a person to evil?"

Whenever we reflect on the Church's pro-life mission, we invariably remember the great document of St. John Paul II, "Evangelium Vitae (the Gospel of Life)." And rightfully so. That encyclical will, I believe, be an important part of the Church's social teaching for many years to come.

In the midst of what our church is going through in the world and everything we are going through in our own diocese lately, I believe that we can all say today, more than ever, we need a Revival.

The universal church observes the feast of St. Francis of Assisi every year on Oct. 4.

Mark's gospel contains two stories about little girls, the daughter of Jairus (5:21-24, 35-43) and the daughter of Herod (6:17-28).

Sunlit summer days are beginning to transition to dimmer, crisp fall days.

Many of us are not fond of seeing animals in cages. But when desperate human beings - especially children

From Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, the United States celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month.

Almost four years ago I graduated from Northern Chautauqua Catholic School, and not a day goes by where I don't reminisce and smile about the time I spent there.

When the tempests of life come upon us, we become like the boat tossed about in Luke's account of Jesus calming the storm.

For many years I understood the words in the Our Father, "Hallowed by thy name," to mean that one should obey the Second Commandment: "You shall not invoke the name of the Lord, your God, in vain" (Exodus 20:7).

We are right in the middle of the "dog days" of summer - those steamy, humid summer days when we really feel the oppression of the heat.

Keeping an optimistic and positive attitude is a huge challenge during these days when society is increasingly polarized and when so much adversity and suffering streams through our devices and is broadcast through news outlets

It seems that relating negative information about another is an age-old experience.

I often ask myself why so many people haven't "stirred" the Holy Spirit since their confirmation. Many of us (myself included) spent years listening to the voice of the secular world in forming our opinions about the major moral questions of the day.

On May 31 of this year, an apparently disgruntled employee entered a municipal building in Virginia Beach where he worked and began shooting with the two silencer-equipped handguns he had brought in.

"The persecution of Christians is today worse than at any time in history," says papal charity Aid to the Church in Need in its report on oppressed Christians titled "Persecuted and Forgotten?"

The gospels record that just after his baptism by John, Jesus is tested in the desert. In Matthew's gospel, the tester is referred to as "the devil" in the first two tests but Matthew ends the third test with Jesus naming the tester as "Satan."

June brings us the month in which we honor our fathers here on earth and those who have gone before us. Some of our parishes will honor fathers by saying a special blessing for them, preparing breakfast after Mass, or by giving them a carnation.

Last month I was once again part of a team that spent a weekend inside a local prison conducting a retreat for the inmates there. We always learn a little more about their lives behind bars, and I am always dismayed at some of the stories about the prison's use of solitary confinement, also known as isolated confinement and known in slang as "the box."

Coming onto Youth Board I was a very shy and not very confident person, but now coming off of Youth Board I am more confident in myself and am open to talking more.

The Easter Sunday bombings of worship sites in Sri Lanka captured the attention of the world. In the days that followed, news outlets shared stories about the increasing death toll of victims numbering about 300 and the arrest of 24 persons who carried out the attacks