Plummeting out of the clouds at 12,000 feet, Msgr. Tim Murphy had the presence of mind to bestow a blessing on a fellow sky diver. Even in a 120 mile-per-hour free fall, he’s still a priest, he figures. “I don’t know if fun is the word I was thinking of,” he says of leaping out of an airplane.
ST. BENEDICT — A monk who at age 40 decided he could not keep running from God was ordained a priest Saturday at Mount Angel Abbey here. Benedictine Brother Ralph Recker, who pursued other professions for decades before visiting the monastery in 2001, was ordained as a priest by Archbishop John Vlazny in the Abbey Church.
Fair trade and organic coffee farming is the topic as a Jesuit High School mathematics and science teacher is on a large-scale research and environmental expedition in Costa Rica this week. Jennifer Cournia, a 1997 Jesuit graduate, is in Coope Tarrazú, a farming cooperative located in the small town of San Marcos de Tarrazú.
The Fourth of July is a great and festive national holiday. As we celebrate our nation’s independence and freedom, people of faith take the opportunity to thank God for the blessings we have shared over these past 233 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia back in 1776.
BEND — The year devoted to St. Paul has been concluded and we have already begun our diocesan effort to positively strengthen and renew our understanding of what it means to be a priest in the Catholic Church. The Holy Hours, planned for June 19, have been completed and in many places there are plans for monthly Holy Hours especially designed as a form of prayer for priests.
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Ezekiel 2:2-5 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Mark 6:1-6 Occasionally, when I am speaking in parishes or attending an event, someone will tell me that they read my column every week. Even better, once in awhile someone will write to say that a particular column has actually made a difference in their lives.
