During the month of December, a group of women wrote daily Advent reflections for The Catholic Telegraph’s website. The writings were honest, funny, sometimes heart wrenching and always a beautiful reflection on preparing our hearts for the birth of our Savior. I was asked to write a few along the …

When I began as editor a few months ago, I met with Archbishop Schnurr and asked him about his vision for The Catholic Telegraph. He gave me two directives: The paper should be an evangelization tool, and it should help the people of the archdiocese feel like they are part …

As parents of young children in church, we’ve all been there: the squirming, the diving below the pews, the waving for attention of the adults behind us, the too-loud whispers to “Sit down and be quiet,” and “Listen to Father.” I confess that, as a mother of four children under …

The Lord tells us what to do. We just have to listen.” One of our recently-ordained priests wrote that in a profile about his view of vocations. So when the company that owned the newspaper I was publishing in Illinois in 2011 directed that an additional 18-20 percent would have …

Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr reminds you, on page 2 of this edition, that your Sunday Mass obligation is not suspended during the summer vacation months. Summer activities, coupled with extended daylight hours and warmer temperatures do consume time. Still, the Sunday Mass requirement is an obligation, not an option. “On …

My father once told me, “You can get any job you want if you always behave as if a potential employer is watching you when you are out in public.” His theory was that behaving as if someone who could do you good – or harm – was watching was …

An Ursuline sister who was one of my early teachers said of God, “Remember the teacher is always silent during the test.” One year ago, my wife slipped and broke her femur. Complicating the matter: We were in Indianapolis. When you have a medical emergency in a strange city, you …

The future looms as we near the end of another trip around the sun. And while it is deck the halls time, it also behooves us to look at the year ahead. Prepping for the celebration of Christ’s birth, we should ask ourselves how we’re going to build our spiritual …

References in the popular culture to letters written but never sent appear in literature, film and even songs. Nights in white satin, never seeming to end; Letters I’ve written, never meaning to send. – Justin Hayward, The Moody Blues 1967 Abraham Lincoln, Harry Truman, even John Kennedy, were all writers …

What are we saying this year? Season’s greetings? Holiday greetings? Merry Christmas? Anecdotal evidence would seem to indicate that how we greet others at Christmas time has more to do with fear than with conviction. We fear that we will offend someone or instigate an unpleasant confrontation. So we default …