Veni, Sancte Spiritus Come, Holy Spirit, come! And from your celestial home Shed a ray of light divine! Come, Father of the poor!  Come, source of all our store! Come, within our bosoms shine. You, of comforters the best;  You, the soul’s most welcome guest; Sweet refreshment here below;  In our labor, rest most sweet;  Grateful coolness in the heat; Solace in the midst of woe. O most blessed Light divine,  Shine within these hearts of...  continue reading

This weekend Deacon Mark Bowman celebrates the first anniversary of his ordination on May 20, 2022. The ancient order of the permanent diaconate was formally restored by Pope Paul VI in 1967. The first permanent deacons were ordained in the Diocese of Grand Island in 2010 and 20 deacons are currently serving in parishes throughout the diocese. On the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website, www.usccb.org, you can find the answers to these two questions Who is a Deacon? What does...  continue reading

Fishing with St. James      Fr. Tom Mullowney will celebrate his 70th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood on May 30, 2023.  As far as I know, he was the first priest to be ordained for the Diocese of Grand Island who grew up at St. James Parish.  Monsignor Tschida asked the young Tommy Mullowney if he wanted to become a priest when he was in 8th grade at St. James School. Fr. Tom told me that he thought it over for a few days and decided, “Ok...  continue reading

Office of Readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, from a sermon by Saint Maximus of Turin, bishop. CHRIST IS THE DAY! Christ is risen! He has burst open the gates of hell and let the dead go free; he has renewed the earth through the members of his Church now born again in baptism, and has made it blossom afresh with men brought back to life. His Holy Spirit has unlocked the doors of heaven, which stand wide open to receive those who rise up from the earth. Because of Christ’s...  continue reading

Prayer for Vocational Discernment Lord Jesus, you said to your disciples, "I am the way, the truth and the life." Give young people the gift of discernment, to find their way and embrace their true vocation, the life for which you have created them. In all that lies before them, help them discern a life that is pleasing to you, whether to Christian marriage, to the priesthood, or the consecrated religious life. Send your Holy Spirit to inspire them. Grant them the grace to...  continue reading

The World Day of Prayer for Vocations is next Sunday April 30. At present the Diocese of Grand Island has five seminarians in formation preparing to be ordained priests. There is a poster on our website and displayed on the Gathering Space TV with the photos of 26 religious sisters originally from our diocese or who now work in our diocese. We are in a time in the church that there is a great need to promote vocations to the priesthood and religious life, including deacons, sisters and...  continue reading

This week during the octave of Easter, our two principals from Kearney Catholic High School, Mr. Matt Rogers and Mr. John Vanderbeek and I joined 3,402 other participants in Irving (Dallas) Texas for the National Catholic Education Association Conference. The NCEA Convention brings together Catholic and other religious educators from across the United States, Canada and other countries to exchange ideas all aspects of Catholic and faith-based education from preschool, elementary,...  continue reading

During The Sacred Triduum we participate in rituals that are once a year liturgical events. During the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper receive the Holy Oils, wash feet, empty the tabernacle and strip the sanctuary bare. On Good Friday we reverence the cross with a kiss and venerate it with a genuflection. Holy Saturday is a time of emptiness, fasting and silence in the church to observe Jesus’ time in the tomb and connect our sorrows with the grief of his family, friends...  continue reading

To the Paschal Mysteries at St. James I want to encourage everyone to plan your “Holy Week” activities around our parish liturgies of “THE SACRED PASCHAL TRIDUUM.” This high point, the mountain of our Lenten journey, will be celebrated April 6-9. “The Sacred Paschal Triduum” is observed as an annual retreat in all Catholic parishes around the world. Consider making the liturgical celebrations a priority and fit the rest of your week around them. If...  continue reading

In our current Liturgical Year Cycle A, the third, fourth and fifth Lenten Sunday Gospels are from St. John. The story of The Woman at the Well (John 4:5-42), on the third Sunday, invites us to be aware of our spiritual thirsts and accept “living water.” The story of The Man Born Blind (John 9:1-41), on the fourth Sunday, challenges us to look at our blindness and move toward spiritual sight. Today’s story of The Raising of Lazarus (John 11:1-45), on this fifth Sunday,...  continue reading