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24th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2026

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Albert Einstein is often credited for defining insanity as doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. We all know people who seem to do the same thing over and over again. Someone says something hurtful. We forgive them. Then they say something hurtful again.  We forgive them. Someone disappoints us. We give them another chance. And after a while we might think: “Are they insane? Why do they keep doing the same thing over and over again?” But the flip-side to that question is: If I keep forgiving them over and over again, am I insane too? In a way, Peter asks Jesus that very question in today’s Gospel. “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?” You can almost hear what Peter is really asking: “Jesus, when have I done enough?” I forgave him once. I forgave him twice. I forgave him seven times. At some point you want to say, “That’s it! I can’t do this anymore! I’d have to be insane to forgive this guy ag...
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23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2026

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  Last week I heard a fascinating interview on NPR about something that seems to be getting a lot more attention these days: family estrangement — parents and children, brothers and sisters, family members who simply no longer speak to one another. What struck me was that many of these people didn't want to lose their families. In fact, many desperately wanted those relationships to work. And that's when I heard a term I had never heard before: “the missing missing reasons.” It describes situations where someone says, “I have absolutely no idea why my son won't talk to me anymore,” or, “I don't know why my daughter cut me out of her life.” But sometimes there were reasons. There had been conversations. There had been phone calls. There had been emails or letters explaining the hurt. The reasons weren't really missing. They just weren't heard. And that's what makes today's Gospel so interesting. Jesus is talking about exactly this kind of situation: a ...
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Location: Morrisonville, NY, USA
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22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2026

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Have you ever downloaded a new app and immediately clicked “I have read and agree to the Terms and Conditions” without reading a single word? We all do it. For all we know, buried in the fine print is a pledge saying, “By clicking Agree, you grant us permission to name your firstborn child 'Algorithm' and use your living room as our corporate warehouse.” Yet we click it anyway. Then, down the road, when the hidden obligations suddenly surface, we find ourselves thinking, “Wait a minute—I didn't sign up for this!” Life has a funny way of catching us with that same unread fine print. And then something happens that makes us stop and ask: “Did I sign up for this?” A teacher goes into education because she loves teaching children. Then she finds herself dealing with behavioral problems, difficult parents, paperwork, technology, and situations they never mentioned in college. “Did I sign up for this?” Parents bring home that beautiful little baby. They expect diapers and sleepl...
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Location: Morrisonville, NY, USA
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21st Sunday in Ordinary Time 2026

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  Have you ever been to the little park across the street from St. Peter's Church in Plattsburgh? I remember when that park was created. At the time I was serving there as the parochial vicar, and one of the most striking features of the park was a new statue of St. Peter. But it isn't carved from marble or cast in bronze. If you look closely, you'll discover that the entire statue is made from old keys welded together. Some of the keys are large. Others are tiny. Some are old-fashioned skeleton keys. Others look like they came from someone's front door, a toolbox, or a filing cabinet. Every key is different. Every key once opened a different lock. By themselves, they were ordinary pieces of metal. But when they were joined together, they became an image of St. Peter. Every time I see that statue, I think of today's Gospel. Jesus asks his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" They give all kinds of answers. Some say John the Baptist. Others Elijah. St...
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Location: Morrisonville, NY, USA
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