Bereavement

“𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑑𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢?” “𝐿𝑜𝑟𝑑, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒,” ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑. — 𝐿𝑢𝑘𝑒 18:41 (𝑁𝐼𝑉) Back in 2013, over lunch with an old friend, I was asked a question that changed my life — one I’m still answering today. That friend was Fr. Hank Hilton, SJ, and the lunch was …

“𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝙖 𝙟𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙨, 𝙣𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙮 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙟𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮, 𝙖 𝙟𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙝, 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙪𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙟𝙤𝙮𝙛𝙪𝙡, 𝙗𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚.” — 𝙒𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝘽𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙮, 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙐𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 (𝟭𝟵𝟳𝟭) Today, …

“𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏… 𝒂 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒕.” 𝑬𝒄𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝟯 A few days ago, I loaded up my truck with petunias and impatiens — two of my favorite flowers I’ve been planting for decades. It’s one of my favorite spring rituals, following weeks of preparation — power raking and fertilizing the lawn and …

“𝑺𝒆𝒆, 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒖𝒕.” 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝟑:𝟖 As I come to the close of my year-long journey through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, I find myself returning to certain Scripture passages—not just for what they meant then, but for how deeply they mirror …

“𝑩𝒆𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅, 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒘.” — 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝟐𝟏:𝟓 The resurrection of Jesus is not just a precious single moment we celebrate every Easter morning — it is woven into the fabric of our everyday lives and something we experience repeatedly as part of being human — a rhythm, a quiet steady …

“𝙒𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙟𝙤𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜.” — 𝙋𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙢 𝟯𝟬:𝟱 This morning, I took my second outdoor bike ride of the year — part of my preparation for the 2026 TD Five Boro Bike Tour, a 40-mile ride through New York City on May 3rd. As I headed toward the …