To distill:  To increase the concentration of, separate, or purify a substance by distillation.

Whether it's liquids, concepts or ideas the final result is concentrated purity and as I quietly enjoy a finely distilled single malt scotch on this Christmas Eve my thoughts go not on the liquor but on the day we've all been looking forward to celebrate: Christmas.​

On November 25, 1980 two of the greatest fighters of their era stepped into a boxing ring in Louisiana in a highly anticipated showdown. Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard were expected to deliver a boxing classic, but something incredible happened in the eight round: Duran quit! He simply said 'No mas' and walked away, leaving the boxing world stunned. It was that he was hurt or being badly beaten, in fact he only trailed by 1 or 2 points on the judges scorecard, it seemed that the fight had just gone out of him... 

Pope Francis declared a Jubilee Year of Mercy with his Papal Bull of Indiction ‘Misericordiae Vultus’.  He sets the tone immediately with the opening line ‘Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy’. As we begin the Sacred Triduum I want you to reflect on those words and its meaning on our lives. I want you to understand and fully realize what it means to be disciple of Christ.
‘Jesus Christ is the face of the Father’s mercy’.  Today, the Church celebrates that mercy in commemorating the mystery of the Eucharist and the institution of the priesthood, and to fulfill his desire to serve one another.

What a year 2014! A year in which I was out of a job for 7 months and then suffered heart attacks recently which led to angioplasty procedures and stents being inserted. 

One might be inclined to say to me "you had a rough year" but it really didn't feel so. Why?.. 

As we celebrate Thanksgiving today let us always be mindful that every good grace comes from God. In our Catholic tradition, thanksgiving is not restricted to a special holiday but everyday, every moment.

Eucharist comes from the Greek 'eucharístia' which means 'gratitude' or 'thanksgiving'. So for over 2000 years we have been called to be a Eucharistic people, giving thanks to God for the gift of salvation through his Son, Jesus Christ. 

Sadly many only associate Thanksgiving with 'Black Friday' shopping, football, and an opportunity to indulge and satisfy the carnal just as we can reduce the Eucharist to mere ritual without substantial thought or awareness on what we are celebrating. We are on the verge of losing our attitude of gratitude in a 'me-first' world.

So today as you celebrate take time and truly give thanks. Look around you. You are blessed more than you think. 

I have much to be thankful for: life, love and especially you. Everything else is secondary. 

Happy Thanksgiving! TGBTG! Peace.

"God give me patience and give me now!" 
This pretty much sums up my impatient nature. I don't like waiting, I find it causes anxiety. Even waiting on God. That is a problem...

As a young boy and through my late teen years I suffered with grand mal seizures and my mother quickly observed that whenever I got too excited it would trigger an episode. Christmas and my birthday In particular were events in which I got so excited that she would allow me to open one present the night before so that I would lessen the excitement.. Perhaps it's those efforts to suppress excitement that lead to a false perception that I am so 'cool' , that I don't get flustered or excited about anything....

As of 2:00 pm EST today the Church has a 'sede vacante'; the empty seat or 'cathedra' of the Pope. It's a strange feeling because, well, the Pope isn't dead yet the chair is empty, something that hasn't happened in 600 years.

My first reaction after "what the...!?", was "why?" I'm sure it was pretty much the same for everybody. He gave his two weeks notice much as we in the secular working world are accustomed to do but the words 'Pope' and 'resigned' haven't been used together in 600 years or to put it into perspective; when Gregory XI stepped down in 1415, Columbus had not even been born, much less set sail to new lands...

Well the Mayan Calendar turned and all is well it seems. The doomsayers awaited the end of the world, Nibiru, Planet X, something. The clock ticked into the 22nd, 23rd, 24th and now here we are on the 25th of December 2012: Christmas Day.

There was some furor over Harold Camping's predictions for the end of the world in may 2011 and then when that didn't pan out he corrected himself to give a date in November. Thankfully when that didn't pan out either he retired. It can make you a skeptic...

Last week my good friend Gerard John asked this question: 'if a child asks the mother for chocolate cake for breakfast and the mother said 'no', was the child answered? Of course the child was answered, just not with the answer the child wanted. Sometimes the answer is simply 'no'...