While living abroad, I relished every opportunity to find a cheap flight to somewhere new and exotic. It was a simple but reliable source of joy for me. Month after month, I would input my available dates into Google Flights and wait to see what affordable adventure awaited me. The crowning achievement of my penny-saving plans was the time I secured a 30 euro roundtrip flight to Rabat, Morocco, for a weekend break.
Father Alex Fry
When I was in seminary, I decided to do something I had never done before: run a half marathon. I had run a little in high school, but never more than two miles, so I knew this was going to stretch and challenge me. I did the research, got the right shoes, and began training. I ran several times a week at a slow pace, slowly building strength and endurance.
When I was in seminary abroad, I traveled to Ukraine over winter break to visit friends. I stayed in a 600-year-old house in the eastern part of the country. It was a simple home with few modern comforts. In fact, I was only ever in the main living space, gathered around a large wood-burning hearth that served as the heart of the house.
I used to go hunting with my dad. Well, technically, he went hunting, and I tagged along for the adventure. I was never much of a gun guy — more of a fisherman — but I loved everything that came before the hunt.
As the Holy Father stepped onto the central loggia above St. Peter’s Square on May 8, I was overcome with emotion and pride, swept up in the historical significance of the moment. Like many around the world, I was intrigued — and excited — by his decision to take the name Leo XIV.
What if three days could change your life? The paschal triduum —Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil — is the heart of the Church’s liturgical year.
I am sitting down to write this reflection on the morning after the conclusion of the Diocese of Dallas Synod Assembly, long and exhausting days of work and dialogue for the 284 delegates who gathered for the event.
For Catholics, Advent is not merely a prelude to Christmas; it is a sacred season of anticipation, rest, and stillness.
I love Lent. But it was not always like that. As a kid, my whole understanding of Lent was shaped by the commandment: Thou shalt give up something that you love.
In a special way during Advent, we unite ourselves in prayer with the sentiments of the Blessed Mother who in silent waiting carried the hidden Savior within her womb for nine months. Mary in turn intercedes for us, as faith, hope, and joy are born again in our hearts as we wait expectantly for the birth of her Son.