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            I am a cradle Catholic. This means that I was born into a family that practices Catholicism, I was baptized as a Catholic, and I have practiced Catholicism my entire life. I focused on my faith as much as I could from the time I was very young up until now. I am currently fifty-six years young. I have never strayed away from my faith. I feel that I have done the best that I could with practicing my faith. Part of one’s faith is to reach out and help others. This is exactly what Jesus Christ taught us to do. You can read about this in Matthew 25:31-46.             From the time that I was a little kid, and all the way up until the Fall 2015, there have been myriad ways in which I have spent my time learning about Catholicism and Christianity and living out my faith. You can look at this period in my life as my faith growing linearly. Once I received the Christ Renews His Parish (CRHP) retreat (currently called “Welcome.”) from a group of men from the St. Andrew Catholic...

            Sometime in the middle of June 2022, I was enjoying fellowship with many of my colleagues from the mathematics department in the high school where we teach.  It was a nice time to get together after the school year had just completed. We were socializing and talking about many different topics. One question I was asked is if I had seen any episodes of “The Chosen.” I was honest with everyone there when I said, “I have no idea what you are talking about.” Several of my friends were in disbelief. They could not believe that I did not know anything about this series about Jesus Christ. They told me to watch the first season, one episode at a time, and see how it goes. This is exactly what I did.             In the first episode of season one, one story line is about Mary Magdalene and her being possessed by the devil. No matter what anyone tried, nothing was working with dispelling the demons from her body. In steps Jesus. Guess what happened? He heals her and the demons...

            This weekend I was visiting family in Southbury, CT. It was like a very small family reunion with several of my siblings, my dad, and a few nephews. We all had a fun time enjoying fellowship and good food throughout the weekend. Today was the day that I was to return home. Before heading on my journey home, I wanted to attend Mass at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, a short ride from my brother’s home. Each weekend, nine times out of ten, I will read Sunday’s Gospel that is going to be read at all the Masses, study the Gospel, and discuss and talk about the Gospel with church friends. This is the one time out of ten that I did not do this. I guess I was a little bit out of my element being away from home.             When I arrived at the church, I picked up the book that is in each of the pews, but it was a music book. It did not have any of the readings for the Mass. I looked around and this is all that I could see in each of the pews. I am not sure why this church did...

            During this past week I debated back and forth about whether to continue having access to the several million songs that I could listen to with my Amazon Prime membership or if I should try the 30-day free trial of Amazon Music Unlimited, which would give me access to over 100 million songs. When you think about it, you cannot come close to listening to this many songs in an entire lifetime. The main point is that I would have access to many songs, if not all, that are contemporary Christian songs that draw me closer to Jesus Christ.             When all was said and done, I convinced myself to go with the 30-day trial to see if I would have access to many of the songs that I have listened to over the past twenty years. Well, not matter which song I typed into the search box, it appeared on my phone, and I was able to listen to that song. This was very cool! Keep in mind that I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s listening to music on records, eight track tapes, cassettes, and...

            I am a high school mathematics teacher. I just finished my thirty-third year of teaching. It is a tough profession just like many other professions, but I continue to enjoy making a positive difference in the lives of my students. This may not happen with all the students I have in class, but it is very rewarding to me when I receive acknowledgement from a student or parent at the end of a course, and a student or parent was very pleased with how everything went with a particular course and what a positive difference I made in the life of that student or that parent’s child.             When you teach students at any level, you will sometimes know that you have had a positive impact on the students you have in class. There are many times where you will never know what type of impact that you have had on several different students. My focus now is to share two examples of how I know that my teaching had a positive impact on two of my students.             First, there was...

            One concept that I have talked about in a previous blog entry is the difference between a “house” and a “home.” You may not think about there being a difference, but there is one. To read more about this, please read the blog entry from 7/9/23 titled “Making a House a Home.”             My family and I have lived in our current home for twenty-three years. We lived in a home before this one for five years. What has made each of these houses a home are celebrating each other’s accomplishments, forgiving another person when that person did something wrong, sitting down and listening to what another person has to say, helping another person when that person is having a tough time with something, taking care of a person when that person is not feeling well, going out of one’s way to do something for someone else, praying for each other, showing compassion for one another, or working together to accomplish a certain task. These are good examples of what makes a house a home.  ...

            If you live in a house, you may call this house a “house.” If you live in a house, you may call this house a “home.” If you live in a house, you may call this house a “house” or a “home.” You may think that there is no difference in calling a house a “house” or a “home.” But there is a difference. Let me explain.             The following are short excerpts from my first manuscript. My goal is to have my manuscript published by the end of 2023. If you would like to have a taste of what my manuscript is all about, please visit the website YourWillBeDone.life. On the initial page of the site, click on the tab titled “Retreat book.” By doing so, you will have the opportunity to read the “Introduction,” “Prologue,” and “Summary” of my work. I hope that you enjoy these as much as I do. The paragraphs below explain what makes a “house” a “home.” Enjoy!             Excerpt #1: I really like our house. Barb and I purchased it in 2000. It is a house just like others in our...

            This past week was one of the most challenging weeks of my life, just like the previous week was for me, my family, and many other immediate family members and friends. My mom passed away on Thursday, June 22. It is a date that I will remember for the rest of my life. Since the day that she passed away, there was much that had to be done in order to make sure that mom’s viewing, funeral Mass, and luncheon after the Mass were as special as they could be. The reason for this is because everyone wanted to celebrate mom and the amazing person that she was.             This is the first time that someone very, very, very close to me has passed away. It was partly my responsibility to help as much as I could with everything that needed to be taken care of from the day that my mom passed away up until the luncheon that took place after the funeral Mass. There were so many things that had to be taken care of during the last several days for everything to run as smoothly as they...

            This past week was one of the toughest and most challenging weeks of my life. Life is full of ups and downs each day of the week, but several days this past week were pretty much on the downside. The reason that I say this is because my mom breathed her last breath just three days ago. I was in the family room of my mom and dad’s condominium along with several of my siblings. I had my back to where mom was resting in a recliner when I heard crying. I looked over and saw my siblings crying next to mom. I immediately went over and did the same. The immediate thought was that mom would not be with us any more physically. This is what made it so tough for each one of us. There was some comfort at that time knowing that mom was not in any more pain. She had gone through much over the past several months.             My mom was diagnosed with liver cancer in the second half of 2021. She did fairly well dealing with this every day and with her infusion treatments every three to...

            Today is Father’s Day. It is the special day of the year that is set aside to honor fathers and father-figures who are important and have had a positive impact in their children’s or other’s lives. Below is a brief history of Father’s Day in the United States of America.            “On July 5, 1908, a West Virginia church sponsored the nation’s first event explicitly in honor of fathers, a Sunday sermon in memory of the 362 men who had died in the previous December’s explosions at the Fairmont Coal Company mines in Monongah, but it was a one-time commemoration and not an annual holiday.        The next year, a Spokane, Washington, woman named Sonora Smart Dodd, one of six children raised by a widower, tried to establish an official equivalent to Mother’s Day for male parents. She went to local churches, the YMCA, shopkeepers and government officials to drum up support for her idea, and she was successful: Washington State celebrated the nation’s first statewide Father’s...