September 2019 Four County Catholic Our Future Hope All your children shall be taught by the LORD; great shall be the peace of your children. Isaiah 54:13 My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Saint Mother Teresa, whose feast day we celebrated on September 5th, had this advice, “Spread love everywhere you go. Let...

Read more...

August 2019 Four County Catholic Who is Walking Who? My Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Not too long ago I observed a neighbor walking his puppy Sam, a newly adopted rescue.  The leash was taut as the puppy charged forward which caused me to ask, “Who is walking who?”  My neighbor and I both laughed...

Read more...

June/July 2019 Four County Catholic “Train the young in the way they should go; even when old, they will not swerve from it. ” Proverbs 22:6 My dear sisters and brothers in Christ, June is a time of joyful exhilaration for our young people as another school year comes to completion. As we transition from the Easter se...

Read more...

May 2019 Four County Catholic “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18) My dear sisters and brothers in Christ, This is the time of joy in the Church –– this time on the Church calendar between Easter and Pentecost known as Eastertide. We are joyful because we, like the apos...

Read more...

April 2019 My dear sisters and brothers in Christ, As we continue our Lenten journey together toward Holy Week, I would like to share with you two occasions which recently reminded me of yet another reason why I am grateful for being your Bishop. The two events, while on the surface quite different from each other, had something ...

Read more...

March 2019 Four County Catholic “My dear sisters and brothers in Christ, Our 40-day journey of self-reflection and sacrifice that is Lent is already well underway. It is a journey that brings us closer to Christ and will leave us changed by our encounter with Him. In my Lenten message this year I spoke of how prayer, fastin...

Read more...

February 2019 Four County Catholic “My dear sisters and brothers in Christ, January 22, 2019 marked the forty-sixth anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. This year, as has become a tradition, hundreds of thousands of the faithful gathered in Washington, DC for the annual March for Life. This year's March, ...

Read more...

January 2019 Four County Catholic “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:12 My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Last month at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Gales Ferry, we, as a diocese, had the distinct honor of hosting the Incorrupt Heart of Saint John Vianney, the...

Read more...

December 2018 Four County Catholic “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means “God is with us.” Matthew 1:23 My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, May the spirit of this holy season fi ll your hearts with joy and your homes with peace! Christmas...

Read more...

November 2018 Four County Cathol;ic “Give Thanks to the Lord, for He is Good; His Love Endures Forever.” Psalm 118:1 My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: Thanksgiving season is upon us. A time specifically set aside by the Pilgrims, nearly 400 years ago, to thank Almighty God for carrying them through their first y...

Read more...

October 2018 Four County Catholic “As I Have Loved You” My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Three words. Love One Another. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ commanded the Apostles and by extension all of us with this simple directive. “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved yo...

Read more...

September 2018 Four County Catholic   My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, We all recognize the ever-growing reliance on the convenience, capacity and speed of digital communications. It creates quite a challenge and, at the same time, a wonderful opportunity for the Church and for those of us living our faith in a rural ...

Read more...

August 2018 Four County Catholic My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Almost a year ago to the day, I wrote in my newspaper column of “our shared call to action as faithful Catholics to stand in solidarity with those enduring the struggle of keeping families together.” The continuing struggle at the southern border ha...

Read more...

June/July 2018 Four County Catholic My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, June is such an exhilarating time of hope and promise as we embrace the continuing joy of the Easter Season and the gifts of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This is a season bursting with enthusiasm as seen in the faces of our graduating classes across the Dio...

Read more...

May 2018 Four County Catholic My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, As we continue to celebrate the joyful Easter Season, we have been blessed with a wonderful message of joy and a call to holiness by the Holy Father, Pope Francis. It comes in the form of an apostolic exhortation perfectly titled Gaudete et Exsultate or Rejoi...

Read more...

April 2018 Four County Catholic My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, With joy and thanksgiving, we have just concluded the Octave of Easter, the first eight days of the Easter Season. We now look forward to the continuance of the Easter celebration for its full fifty days. Easter is so triumphant and momentous a celebration of ou...

Read more...

March 2018 Four County Catholic My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, As we continue our Lenten journey together and prayerfully contemplate Christ's suffering, death and resurrection, we are still grieving the loss of innocent young lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Ash Wednesday. We are su...

Read more...

February 2018 Four County Catholic My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, In my New Year's column in January, I spoke of how "God specializes in new beginnings."  As we now approach the holy season of Lent, we encounter an extraordinary opportunity to recognize our need to reform and to renew our lives in the lig...

Read more...

 January 2018 Four County Catholic My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, As a new year is now upon us, we realize that the challenges we face in these interesting times do not lessen from year to year. Fortunately, our faith shared in community with one another, empowers us to embrace the promise of new beginnings. It is time...

Read more...

December 2017 Four County Catholic “Till He appear’d and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices” My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, On this my fifteenth Christmas as your Bishop, I pray that the blessings and peace of the newborn Savior be yours in abundance and that you may k...

Read more...