“One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty (to savor the sweetness) of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4) This beautiful verse from Psalm 27 touches … Continue reading “The Sweetness Of The Lord” →

The sayings of Jesus often surprise me. Just when I think I can predict what the Lord is going to say in a particular situation, I miss it…. I get it wrong. The reading this morning  from Mark 4:35-41 is one of “my misses”. We’re familiar with the passage… “Jesus sleeping in the boat, a … Continue reading “Jesus Keeps Us Off Balanced” →

The story of Paul’s conversion is powerful. In the Acts of the Apostles, we get a detailed version of what was going on. Paul was a “mad man”…. “breathing threats and murder” (Acts 9:1) …. going around capturing Christian men and women and bringing them in chains to Jerusalem. He was a fierce and dangerous … Continue reading “Ananias…What A Good Man” →

Originally Posted April 19, 2020 Webster says that “Imagination is the act or power of forming a mental image of something not present to the senses or never before wholly perceived in reality”.  Hmmm, I guess that’s a pretty good definition. Yet like the boy in the picture, when I was in grade school, we weren’t encouraged to … Continue reading “God Is Very Smart” →

Originally Posted April 18, 2020 Larry Holmes was the heavy weight boxing champion from 1978-1983. He won his first 48 professional bouts, including victories over Ken Norton and Muhammad Ali. He had 20 successful title defenses. We lived in Easton during those years and I used to see him occasionally at a restaurant or running along … Continue reading “The Gentle Giant” →

I’ve often pondered what it would have been like to meet Jesus when he walked the earth 2000 years ago. I think it’s clear that Jesus looked like a young Jewish man and did not stand out in his physical appearance… he wasn’t 8’ tall… he didn’t have any abnormal features… he didn’t talk differently. … Continue reading “Walking With Jesus” →

February 13, 1904 was the year my father, Cornelius Joseph Touhill, was born in St. Louis, Mo.  It was the year of the St. Louis World’s Fair in which the ice cream cone was invented. Teddy Roosevelt was president. The average life span was 47 years. Cary Grant was born in 1904, along with such notables … Continue reading “1904 — A Very Good Year” →

 I have a tendency to translate the current moment into the new normal for the long term. If I’m having a “good day”, I think all my future days are going to be good…peaceful, sunny, healthy, happy. On the other hand, if I’m having a “bad day”, I can tend to project that into the … Continue reading “Life Can Change In A Minute” →

We do a lot of celebrating in our family. In addition to holy days like Christmas and Easter and Pentecost, and the major holidays like Memorial day and the 4th of July, we have the family celebrations …. anniversaries of birthdays, weddings, baptisms, along with graduations, first communions, confirmations, etc. "Heavenly Banquet" Add all this together … Continue reading “Time To Celebrate” →

I was an altar server back in the late 1950’s. This was pre-Vatican II, so all the Mass responses were in Latin. To be honest I was not completely fluent in the responses.  I had the simple responses down… “Dominus Vobiscum (the Lord be with you)… responding, Et Cum Spiri Tu Tuo” (and with your spirit).  … Continue reading “Confiteor Deo Omnipotenti” →