There is no menace to the spiritual life more dangerous, more prevalent, or more potent than pride. It is the basic source of all sin. If we can eradicate pride from our lives, we can enjoy living in the grace of God to the full. In September, we will go …
Living the readings: Living in an imperfect world
Gaining salvation by putting away parts of us that are earthly August is a difficult month with its heat and humidity. It’s the perfect time to meditate on how a Christian should live in a world that can be a very difficult place to evaluate, to make decisions, and to …
Living the readings: A month of virtue
Great things are happening to us as power of God goes to work Some may be led to think that holiness is boring. They may claim that it is monotonous in that holy people do nothing but good. They define being good as avoiding evil. To reduce goodness to doing …
Living the readings: The power of the Eucharist
Body, Blood of Christ strengthen faith, overcome death and sin June is beginning with a flourish as the feast of Corpus Christi is highlighting the sacrament of the Eucharist. After this feast to the end of the liturgical year Sundays are nameless yet numbered with the exception of the last …
Living the readings: Are we almost there yet?
Bible never disappoints as it deals with a multitude of endings Most every piece of literature ever written begins with an implied promise. By its very nature, it assures you it will come to an ending. There are some notable exceptions, but those are spoken of with disappointment or downright …
What Easter is all about
To Easter glory, the good news of Christ’s resurrection lifts us all April begins the day after Easter. One might, therefore, jump to the conclusion that the month would be a let-down from the 40 days of preparation for the feast and the great liturgies of Holy Week. Quite the …
Living the readings: From the heart of Lent…
To Easter glory, the good news of Christ’s resurrection lifts us all By the time March begins, Lent already has completed 40 percent of its lifespan. Deep into this time of relearning the basics of our faith and intensifying our relationship with God, the Sunday Liturgy of the Word continues …
Living the readings: The Light has come
Jesus shines the light on himself as the giver of freedom Advent is over; Christmas has come; and, significantly, the Light that was promised is already shining upon us. The fact that the first day of the year is always the Octave Day of Christmas is not by accident. We …
Living the readings: A joyful feast for the soul
By praising God, we can develop Christmas joy By Father Joseph Brando December is not only the first month of the liturgical year; it’s also the busiest. There are seven Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation in the month. To boot, Christmas has four entirely distinct Masses each with its …
Jesus goes ‘all in’
We put our life on the line but the good news is we can’t lose by Father Joseph Brando Going ‘all in’ is an expression that recently has become very popular. Its source is found in certain versions of poker in which one player decides he will close all the …
Living the readings: The radical Jesus
Christ is not ‘right’ or ‘left’ but is deep in his radicalism The Liturgy of the Word for the month of October pictures Jesus as a radical. That is not in the common political usage of the word. Jesus is not radical “right” or “left.” He is radical “deep.” The …
Father Brando celebrating 40th anniversary
Father Joe Brando, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Gatlinburg, will celebrate the 40th anniversary of his priestly ordination with an open house at the American Legion Post 202 at 1222 E. Parkway in Gatlinburg from 7-10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21. Father Brando was ordained a priest June 3, 1972, …
