News - February 2025 RSS Feed

In early February, St. John Paul II Parish, in collaboration with the diocesan Vocations Office, hosted an Andrew Dinner in Scarborough. Thanks to the generous hospitality of Fr. Jack Dickinson and Fr. Alex Boucher and their team of cooks, we hosted 21 young people for a night of prayer, food, and conversation. The young people invited were sent a letter from Fr. Brad Morin and me extending the invitation to "come and see."

The Cross the Street Ministry of Prince of Peace Parish in Lewiston and Mildred’s Food Pantry, a ministry of St. Mary of the Visitation Parish in Houlton, are the 2025 winners of Matthew 25 Awards. The awards, given out by Catholic Charities Maine Parish Social Ministry (PSM), are intended to help parishes meet the needs of their community. The Cross the Street Ministry, which serves the unhoused of Lewiston, received a $6000 grant, while Mildred’s Food Pantry received $4000.

Students at St. Brigid School in Portland invited some special guests to join them for the recent celebration of Catholic Schools Week. They had members of the Sisters of Mercy over for tea. “We got to talk and have food and have some fun,” said Alina, a third grader.

Recently, I was reading a whitepaper (a summary report with recommendations of findings based on research and data) from the Catholic Leadership Institute about ministry and outreach to Millennials (born 1981-1996) and Generation Z (born 1997-onward).

I read a February 4th Catholic News Agency article last week that addressed the concept of ordo amoris. It highlighted a recent interview with Vice President JD Vance. In the article, Vice President Vance, a Catholic, cited “rightly ordered love” in reference to the recent measures taken by the Trump administration pertaining to immigration. Vice President Vance was making the point that not all love is equal. There is an order, or in other words, a hierarchy. My purpose in mentioning the CNA article is to explore the idea of equality. Does equality really exist?

Priests, religious, students, parishioners and more from Maine were among the thousands to attend the National March for Life in Washington, DC. on Friday, January 24. The annual event, held in the U.S. capital, began in 1974 and is the largest pro-life gathering in the world.

In the motion picture industry, a movie or a particular scene from a movie occasionally impacts our memories. For me, one of these scenes is from the movie Dead Poets Society (1989), starring the late Robin Williams. In the movie, Robin Williams portrays the unconventional literature teacher at the fictional Welton Academy, an all-boys prestigious boarding school in Vermont.