Author name: Essjay Peatoo

What is happening in the world today reminds me of a case study in behavior modification.  Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author who wrote, The Power of Habit—Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business.  He tells the story of a US Army major in the town of Kufa, in Iraq, who decided […]

Remember how there was only a reduced Fourth Week of Advent this liturgical year?  Well, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has given us another twist this year. USCCB has moved Epiphany from the traditional January 6th to January 5th so Epiphany would fall on a Sunday.  I presented my Daily Reflection for Epiphany yesterday.  In

Today’s Solemnity of The Epiphany of the Lord (traditionally celebrated January 6) takes me back 51 years, back to when I was a young scientist embarking on a career in scientific diplomacy.   While working in Germany, I had the opportunity to travel to its capital (at that time), Cologne (Köln).   There, on the

The scripture readings today remind us that we all are called to be faithful followers of Jesus Christ. We are reminded that, as Christians, we are a called and chosen people, that we have received from Jesus the assurance of joy and eternal life that will be ours if we keep our faith in Him.

Today’s feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus is another way for the Church to call our attention to Jesus’ identity, and to encourage us to call upon him. When Gabriel visited Mary, the angel told her, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.”

During Advent, we opened our hearts to be ready to receive Jesus. We followed devotions that would help us grow ever closer to Him. After the world-changing, calendar-defining, cosmos-altering birth of Jesus, we flocked to Church to receive Jesus in a deeper way at Christmas. Now it is more than a week past Christmas. People

From the very beginning of the Church, we have struggled to understand the two natures of Jesus:  God and Man. Throughout the Fourth Century, the whole Church, East and West, struggled to find a vocabulary that adequately described both the experience of Jesus’ human presence and the experience of His powerful post-Resurrection divine presence. What

May the Lord bless you and keep you.May the Lord let his face shine on you and be gracious to you.May the Lord uncover his face to you and bring you peace. Numbers 6: 24-26 Welcome to 2025!  From the pope down to the vagrant, each of us is an individual creation made by God.

We have arrived at the end of another year.   Many of us use December 31 each year as a time to take stock of how our lives are going. It is more or less arbitrary where we mark the end of the year, but because the convention is shared, our lives have a rhythm

Today we celebrate the sixth day within the octave (eight days) following Christ’s birth.  This is the only day that is not a Saint’s Feast. During the Octaves of the Epiphany, Easter, and Pentecost, the Church is so absorbed in their respective mysteries, that she puts off everything else that could share her attention, whereas,