February 2nd is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.

We often speak of some very good things as “well-kept secrets,” meaning some things very positively notable are not well known or observed at all. Perhaps we might even say the Gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness is too often a well-kept secret.

On the night of Dec. 10, 2021, I was not watching television and was not aware of the reports of tornado warnings across western Kentucky. Storms were never severe in Owensboro where I was that night, so I slept well. When I awoke on the morning of the 11th I checked into my regular news apps, and I began to learn of the devastation across our diocese.

In our Catholic tradition we observe the month of November as a time of special commemoration of all the faithful departed. November 2 is celebrated each year as the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls Day), but the entire month is a time of consciousness and prayer for all those “who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith.”

On June 24, 2022 the prayers of those who support the dignity and worth of all human life were answered when the United States Supreme Court struck down the Roe v. Wade decision of 1973.

In June of this year the Catholic Church of the United States initiated a three-year Eucharistic Revival.  Most dioceses marked this event by highlighting the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi). I joined the parishioners of St. Joseph in Mayfield in a Corpus Christi procession around their church grounds.

Every year most of us know one or several students graduating from college, high school, or middle school. We might even observe a kindergarten graduation. It is my honor to attend four graduations every year, at Brescia University, Trinity High School in Whitesville, St. Mary High School in Paducah, and Owensboro Catholic High School.

In anticipation of Ash Wednesday this year, Pope Francis called upon Catholics of the world to observe the traditional prayer, fasting and charity of this day for a special intention. Only days before, Russia had invaded Ukraine and even in those first days the human toll being reported was horrific. War and violence of this scale had not been seen on the continent of Europe since the end of World War II.

You are cordially invited to attend the Chrism Mass of the Diocese of Owensboro on Tuesday, April 12, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. at the Owensboro Sportscenter.  

The beginning of the season of Lent brings to us many images and traditions. Foremost among these are practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. In the Gospel reading for Ash Wednesday we hear Jesus admonish us, “When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet; when you pray … go to your inner room; when you fast, do not look gloomy.”