I don’t know about all of you, but returning to Lent brings back a lot of memories. Shortly after Ash Wednesday last year, first the Mass obligation was lifted and then, there were no more public Masses. In some ways, it still feels like we never left last year’s Lent. It’s a bad dream that we are all still waiting to wake up from. In some ways, I’m nervous to begin this Lent. What if something crazy happens this year too? How do we prepare for Lent when things are still different? Would it be better if we just skipped Lent altogether? I know, I’m being ridiculous and irrational, but let’s be honest, Lent 2020 was rough, very rough. I’ll just leave it at that. Now the question is—what does the Lord wish of us during Lent 2021? A return to the desert. Click on title for full column.

What is the Parish and Deanery Situation in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati? Friends, I have heard quite a bit of speculation, most of it feverish, about the possible, or even definite, closure of one, several, or all the parishes of our region. Such is not the case, but the time has come to start publishing information about how many parishes we have, and what the plan is for the Archdiocese moving forward. There have not been any talks about closing our parishes specifically, but there is most definitely a broader restructuring coming, with many priests set to retire and not as many to fill the need. In the coming weeks we will publish more information about plans that the Archdiocese is making with our input, but in the meantime, I ask that you simply pray, remain open, and ask me any direct questions you have instead of continuing the spread of half-truths or rumors. All for the greater Glory of God, Fr. McC Click title for full column.

Until recently I had found it amusing to reflect on how different the world is now compared to when I was a child. Telling kids about a world without internet shopping or smartphones and receiving eye-rolls was harmless entertainment. Now I’m at an age where it’s not uncommon for me to tell young, engaged couples about movies I saw before they were born, and my heart weeps for those who did not experience the thrill of the original Jurassic Park in theaters. But alongside all the trivial or amusing ways in which things have changed over the last thirty-odd years, there have been darker developments, to be sure. This week, our parishes are participating in an effort called “Safe Haven Sunday” because of the exponential and devastating increase in the availability of pornography to young people growing up today. Click title for full column.

About a month ago, on the Solemnity of the Epiphany, I spoke in my homily about how I have been struggling in prayer about how best to evangelize in a post-Christian culture. It is still overwhelming and daunting. Part of the problem is that I am trying to find a human answer using human means. I clearly am struggling to give up control and trust that God is with us. So, how blessed and fitting it is to have a year dedicated to St.Joseph. Click title for full column.

The end of January each year often brings the Church’s attention to the ongoing efforts to promote respect for human life, from conception to natural death. Each year, I struggle to find words to express the deep sadness that this divisive issue brings to my heart. I was born fifteen years after the legalization of abortion in the United States, and so mine has always been a world in which thousands of my peers, those who would be my brothers and sisters in Christ, perish before they have a chance to live, grow, and be loved. There is much hurtful and dangerous rhetoric on both sides of this issue, and instead of being a productive and fruitful conversation amongst those who disagree over something of immense importance, it is now a decades-long shouting match. Click title for full column.

There is an almost pathological aversion to talking about religion or sharing one’s Faith in our contemporary culture. We are cautioned to keep conversations at bars to the topics of sports, television, and the weather, lest we accidentally become too political, or even worse, religious. But this aversion demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of what our Faith is supposed to be in our lives, and reorienting the way we think about our Faith might make us more likely to share it with others in the same way that Andrew brings his brother to Jesus in this week’s Gospel. Click title for full column.

It is so fitting and exciting that we have the pleasure to announce on the Baptism of the Lord that WWPR is having a Safe Haven Sunday on the weekend of February 7. We can only chalk it up to Divine Providence. God always knows best! At our Baptisms, in addition to the incredible gifts of the cleansing of original sin and the conforming of our souls to Christ, we are given the light of Christ. Our parents and godparents promise to protect that light—to keep it burning brightly! Priests, catechists, grandparents, and other family members have the privilege and duty to share in that responsibility. You all do an incredible job protecting them from so many dangers that threaten to dim the light of Christ within them. It is because you love your children and grandchildren. You know them better than anyone else. You use that love to teach how to avoid danger and stay safe. You teach them to come to you when they are in danger. Click on title for full column.

Happy Epiphany to you all! I have a close friend from college who used to celebrate the Epiphany with his extended family that couldn’t gather on Christmas Day, and they would all revel in the gifts brought to them by the mythical Epiphany camel. In other parts of the world this feast day maintains its significance as an integral part of the Christmas season. Here in the states it is largely glossed over by the secular culture, but it is a rich source of meditation for us nonetheless. Click title for full column

The Feast of the Holy Family is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to preaching a column material. Does one talk about the centrality of the family in the discernment of one’s vocation? Does one talk about Jesus’ obedience to Mary, Joseph, and the old law that He Himself had come to fulfill? Perhaps a word about Simeon and Anna,and their anticipation of the Savior’s advent? Some imprudent preachers lean in and give one thirty-minute homily with four subsections, but I strive to avoid such things, as I try not to get booed out of the ambo whenever possible. Click title for full column.

In the department of odd statistics that I track, it probably comes as no surprise that I travel about three times more as a pastor of three parishes than I did as the vicar of one. In an effort to make the most of my time on the road, I have taken to getting in more car rosaries, as well as burning through podcasts and audiobooks. There is almost no limit to great Catholic content out there, and even with all the time in the car, I feel like I am always behind on formation opportunities on the go. Click title for full column.

On this Gaudete Sunday, it is with great joy that we invite you to an incredible Advent opportunity—a candlelit Rorate Caeli Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary on Saturday, December 19 at 6:30 am. On December 1, Fr. McCullough posted an excellent video on our WWPR Facebook page describing the Rorate Caeli Mass and how it will look a little bit different. The video can also be accessed on our parish website. If you’d prefer the written word from the Vicar, then here you go! Click title for full column.

Seven years ago, before my time in Miami learning Spanish, I took a week-long retreat at the Trappist Monastery of Gethsemane, down in Kentucky. It was a wonderful time of silence and prayer, and a chance to do some of my favorite things: pray, read, and not talk to anyone. In fact, just knowing that there is a place out there where no one is permitted to talk brings joy to the cockles of my heart. While I was there, I found myself fascinated by the life of the monks themselves. There are many aspects of their horarium that one might find interesting, but I think the simplest way to explain what captures the modern imagination about hermits and cloistered religious is that they are, in a word, weird. Click title for full column.

It is hard to believe I have been at the Winton Wyoming Pastoral Region for 5 months now. It feels like just yesterday we were preparing for Lent and Easter during this craziness. Now, all of a sudden, Advent is here, and Christmas is around the corner. We can definitely give thanks we are able to prepare and worship together during this Advent season. We just need to be on guard that we do not let Advent become another month that quickly passes us by. Click title for full column.

One of my favorite ministerial things to do as a priest is holding marriage prep meetings. They are time-consuming, and it is sometimes difficult to coordinate three busy schedules to find sufficient time to talk about the work that goes into a successful marriage, but it is also one of the places where it is easiest to see the Holy Spirit at work in people’s vocations. One of my favorite occurrences in these meetings is when we stumble across unknown discrepancies in the couple’s understanding of their relationship. Perhaps the most common is seeing the difference in how much money they feel comfortable spending without telling their future spouse. Ultimately, all of these discrepancies come down to the question of how much control over their lives the spouses are prepared to cede on behalf of the good of the relationship. Click title for full column.

This Sunday’s parable of the servants receiving talents from their master is a beautiful lens by which we can enter more fully in the Eucharistic Prayers at Mass—especially the First Eucharistic Prayer, sometimes referred to as the Roman Canon. The lens is the radical humility and generosity of self that God asks for us. The servants who received 5 and 2 talents were rewarded for being generous in striving to increase what their master had given them. These servants realized they received an unmerited gift, and the only fitting response was to humbly and radically give of themselves and what they had received. The third servant, motivated by self-preservation and fear, buried his talent, to which our Lord says the master called him “You wicked, lazy servant!” Click title for full column.

We have arrived at a perfect storm of sorts, friends. The pandemic and its isolation, seasonal affective disorder, daylight savings time- induced depression because it’s pitch black at about 6:00 pm now, Zoom meetings, you name it. Add in political ads and all the partisan turmoil raging around us, and it’s amazing that people are as happy and balanced as they are. But the fact remains that the end of the year does not have the same easy optimism and hope as spring or summer. Perhaps it is for all these reasons that the end of each liturgical year focuses our minds on the end of days and the four last things: death, judgement, heaven, and hell. Click title for full column.

It is difficult, in a world in which the news cycle rolls over seemingly every twenty minutes, to comment on all the significant things that happen in the world and in the Church before they become old news. But as we have the opportunity to celebrate All Saint’s Day on a Sunday this year, it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on the recent news story on Pope Francis and his comments on civil unions and place it within the context of the entire history of the Church, because, to a certain degree, that’s what All Saint’s Day is about. Click title for full column.

There’s an old adage that Cincinnati is the only place where when people ask you “Where did you go to school?” they mean high school, not college. I have found this to be true, and unfortunately it frequently runs me headlong into an uncomfortable catch-22 surrounding my educational background. Many people ask me if I went to LaSalle because I’m always wearing their gear. Others assume I am a Roger Bacon man because of my St. Bernard origins. In reality, I am a proud son of Covington Latin, having thoroughly inconvenienced my parents by going to school not just across town, but out of state. When people discover this, the response is, almost inevitably, something along the lines of “Oh, so you’re a super-genius then?” Click on title for full column.

Because of the numerous times I have mentioned the FOCUS Mission (www.focus.org) going down to Mexico City that I was blessed to serve as chaplain on, I figured I’d be kind and share some pictures and give some more context. With a gaggle of university students and three FOCUS missionaries, we all flew down to Mexico City and met Craig, the founder of Hope of the Poor (www.hopeofthepoor.org). I still message him often to check in, and we can give thanks that he was able to return to the poor in in September. Click title for full column.

There are a number of people in the scriptures who, by all accounts, get a pretty raw deal. Job is the first name that comes to mind. Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, certainly deserved better. Some people sympathize with the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son. But the wedding guest in today’s Gospel who unexpectedly gets invited to the party and is then unceremoniously thrown out into the outer darkness might take the cake. Sure, it’s just a parable, but how can you drag someone into a party at the eleventh hour and then get angry at him for being underdressed? Click title for full column.