The filly arrived at my place in need of training. After four weeks, she was ready to return home as a gentle, respectful mount. When I called her owner to pick her up, he surprised me by asking if I’d like to keep her as my own. It had been a dry summer and I suspect his feed costs were high. I happened to have a vacant pasture at the time, s...

The death of my sister calls me home to Ohio. The week of her funeral, I find myself driving down the country road to my brother’s farm, the one on which four generations of our family were raised. My mood is somber, but my spirit is buoyed by the faith that resides in the loam of the soil as well as the humble lives that comprise this rural c...

A Homily for the Second Sunday of Lent I’ve trained quite a few horses in my life. Some of them left an impression, literally. Just ask my x-ray technician. I remember, in particular, a colt named Moonshine. He appeared calm when that his owner dropped him off at my place. But the next day, when I slipped a halter across his ears, Moonshine...

The voice of hospital receptionist sounded concerned. “His name is Angel.” She was calling to inform me that a family was requesting my presence at the bedside of a man who did not have long to live. It was Ash Wednesday. I was filling-in for a vacationing pastor, so I checked the Mass schedule, then told the receptionist that I would ...

Two nuns occupy a corner of the waiting room. I take a seat near the door. To my right, an elderly woman pages through a copy of People magazine. On the sidewalk outside the window, a mother is giving instructions to three children.  The oldest one, a boy, frowns and stomps his foot. Soon, they enter the door and the sisters beckon the family...

Having enthroned himself as a god, modern man struggles with the ideas of prayer.  Why pray for something with a touch of uncertainty when I know that Amazon can get it to me in a few days anyway?  I’m only slightly joking, but it is true that affluent and wealthy peoples have a harder time developing the healthy sense of need, of sending a req...

I cease yanking the pull cord on my push mower to catch my breath. Gas fumes waft in the air. “No, Tuff! Don’t kick the bucket today!” It is mid-November and the last time I’ll need to mow the lawn. “Just one pass, pal.” I glance at a swath of grass beyond the mole hills, then give mower one more yank. Then another. Then an...

The rector was out of town and I was asked to offer the Masses at the cathedral in his place. While vesting in the sacristy, I noticed a picture on the wall, a drawing of a young John the Baptist. It was striking. I studied it a moment, figuring it was a print of some timeless classic. I was wrong. In 1907, a daughter of pioneer ranchers, Kos...

Cell-Block Salvation: A Prison Homily Some folks find answers in the Bible. That makes me jealous. When I open the Bible, I find more questions than answers. Today’s gospel passage provides a good example. When Jesus surprises his listeners by praising a dishonest thief, he’s called to task. In response, he points out that that people wh...

Rita, my sister-in-law, resides in a nursing home. She can no longer converse and her days pass inside the embrace of a recliner. A blank stare occupies her face. Occasionally, a slight smile plays on her lips. Today, I gaze out the window in the silence of her presence, contemplating various scenes and seasons from her life. My visit falls on t...