Terry Brennan

Dear Editor,
For those who cannot seem to grasp the uproar over the government’s attempt to mandate birth control and sterilization coverage in health insurance policies at Catholic (and other religions’) schools, hospitals, etc., let me explain. The government has now staked a position that says the government can force a religion to violate sacred tenets of its faith.

As I proclaimed the Gospel of Luke this weekend I had the privilege of telling the story of Jesus explaining to the apostles how to pray.  He chose this setting to share with us the beautiful prayer we know as “The Lord’s Prayer”.  He also gave the apostles some succinct commentary on the nature of prayer, encouraging them to be persistent and bold – to knock on the door, to seek, to ask.  Furthermore Jesus explained that the Father, infinitely good, certainly would look after his children since even in our midst “What father among you would hand

I recall as a youngster that my family always took a vacation.  It was at least a week away from home that we spent “on the road”.  These were times that generated great memories.  Dad would prepare the car for a few months (even if we only travelled a couple of hundred miles). 

Have you ever noticed how noisy our world is?  I cannot imagine how anyone could not be aware of it.  There are so many distractions that are constantly vying for our attention.  There is always noise – cars, planes, radios, TV sets – the list is unending.  There are so many distractions.  The problem with distractions is they take us away from the main attraction, which is God.  I sometimes think it is no wonder our relationship with God seems so lacking insofar as we are pulled by the lights and sounds of our every day lives in so many other direc

We Christians have just celebrated the high point of our liturgical year with our Easter festivities.  I hope that all of us had a wondrous and joyful time that was full of the blessings of our God. 

I’m sure many of us have heard the story of the man who was addressing a group about priorities.  In front of him he had placed a large glass jar.  Next to it were three additional smaller jars with each jar containing golf balls, jelly beans, or sugar.  As he addressed his audience about priorities, he poured the sugar into the large glass jar.  It filled it about half way up.  He then poured the jelly beans into the jar which filled it the remainder of the way.  He asked his audience how many golf balls he could get in the jar with the sugar and the jel

In 1967, John Lennon and The Beatles told us that “All You Need is Love”.  The meaning of that phrase was certainly so romanticized and attached to shear emotion that perhaps today we would say “All You Need is Luv.”  There was not a lot of heavy lifting associated with the “luv” of that era.  It was about feeling good and “doing your own thing”.

For those of you who may not be aware, American entertainment reached a new low the evening of Nov. 22. 
On that night, during prime time, on ABC the American Music Awards show was aired, complete with what was probably one of the raunchiest excuses for entertainment that has ever found its way into over 95% of our homes. 

I realize I may be jumping the gun here, but since this will be my last column before Thanksgiving...

Having just completed our community celebrations of All Saints and All Souls Days gives us the opportunity to ponder not only the lives of those who have preceded us and are now in the arms of our Lord but to also consider our personal circumstances as they relate to the world around us.