I clearly remember one day as a kid when I had spent most of the day at a friend’s house.  We played games inside and outside all day and had lunch with his mom.  In the late afternoon the doorbell rang, it was my mother coming to pick me up.  I grabbed my bag and stood outside the door while my mother spoke with my friend’s mother.  As they chatted, a screaming woman approached running down the street.  Her words... Read more

La invención de la bombilla de luz ha estropeado nuestra experiencia de la luz. Aunque la electricidad y la bombilla de luz nos permiten tener luz cuando queramos, lo cual es una gran cosa, estas nos han hecho perder la apreciación del poder penetrante de la luz. La mayoría de los hombres modernos hemos olvidado la experiencia del sol que baja dejando todo en oscuridad completa, haciéndonos confiar en la luna y las estrellas para iluminar desde el cielo. Hoy... Read more

Last week I spent a few days with Trappist Monks at the Monastery of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia.  This beautiful monastery was founded in 1944 when a group of monks came down from the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky to start a new community.  They purchased a large property and the first monks lived in the barn of the old farm while the monks themselves built the church and monastery.  The abbey church took fifteen... Read more

When my family arrived to Augusta on April 26th, 1991, we moved into a small apartment on Davant Street right on the Richmond and Columbia county line.  I attended Martinez Elementary on Flowing Wells Road for just three short weeks before the school year ended. Every Sunday morning it took my family less than five minutes to walk to Saint Teresa of Avila Parish on Pleasant Home Road.  We only had to cross Davant Street onto a path that connected... Read more

We have heard this Gospel passage of the Annunciation so many times.  We have heard it at Mass, as we just did, we have heard it at children’s Christmas shows, we have heard it at Lessons and Carols, and certainly we have all heard it and recited part of it every time we have prayed the Hail Mary. We have admired beautiful works of art depicting this passage of Saint Luke.  We can recognize it immediately, the young woman, usually... Read more

  La Virgen María se apareció cuatro veces a San Juan Diego en diciembre de 1531, después de solo diez años de la derrota del imperio Azteca por los españoles.  Este periodo de la historia fue marcado por la integración de la cultura española y la indígena, dando a nacer a un pueblo con una cultura única que continua a predominar hoy en todo Latino América. Las palabras de la Virgen a Juan Diego fueron escritas en la obra titulada... Read more

The Virgin Mary appeared four times to Saint Juan Diego on December 1531, only ten years after the defeat of the Aztec empire in Mexico. This time period marked the integration of Spanish and native cultures which ultimately gave rise to a unique people and culture which continues to flourish today throughout Latin America. Mary’s words to Juan Diego were soon recorded in the work called Nican Mopohua written in Nahuatl, the language of the natives. Her words for this... Read more

It seems unreal that Advent is almost over and that Christmas is only days away.  Our vigilant wait is almost over, the train is about to leave the station, and the question is: are we prepared?  Are we ready? We have heard several times at Sunday Mass throughout this past month John the Baptist preaching repentance.  He is the voice calling in the wilderness, “prepare the way of the Lord.”  He is the voice calling us to prepare for the... Read more

Parece mentira que el Adviento ya está a la mitad y que la Navidad llegará en menos días.  Nuestra espera ya está por terminar, el tren está por partir de la estación, y la pregunta es ¿estamos preparados? ¿estamos listos? Durante este último mes hemos escuchado en la Misa dominical a San Juan Bautista predicar el arrepentimiento.  Él es la voz que clama en el desierto “preparen el camino del Señor.”  Él es la voz que nos urge a preparar... Read more

I remember when I was a young kid in Peru, there was a watchman at my house throughout the night.  He walked around the property all night, making sure no one broke into the property.  At daybreak he’d approach my parent’s bedroom window, report to my father and leave.   We needed a watchman since the police could provide very little security in a city where crime and terrorism were gaining strength. I have oftentimes wondered how much this man... Read more