He said it was the best advice he ever got. This story took place almost 40 years ago, when I was in my twenties and not yet a priest. I worked in a CPA firm doing audits. I became friends with one of the fellows there who worked in software marketing in the financial industry. […]Read more

You wanna know how I made 95 bucks in one day when I was 14 years old? 50 years ago, in 1973, I wanted to go to a leadership camp for high schoolers sponsored by Opus Dei in Milwaukee. I’d been on one the year before, and my parents said that if I wanted to […]Read more

What’s the glory of the Catholic Church?   Is it the buildings, the cathedrals, the stained glass windows? The architecture? The music? Is it St. Peter’s Basilica? The sculptures of Bernini, the music of Palestrina? I think that the glory of the Church is the saints. There are so many saints, and I’m sure we’re familiar […]Read more

What’s the best way to receive Holy Communion?  “So, what’s the best way to receive Holy Communion?” I’m often asked. Well, I only teach what the Church tells me to teach, which is what I’m supposed to do as a priest. In the United States of America, when you receive Holy Communion, you may receive […]Read more

Every single night on the FRAA, it’s on my heart to pray for peace and unity in our families.   When I lived in Pittsburgh, I had two friends who were married and couldn’t have children of their own. They wanted children, and they came to me and asked for my thoughts on adoption. I said […]Read more

It was his First Communion. It was his Last Communion. It was his only Holy Communion.   Years ago, when I was chaplain at Northridge Prep, I received a phone call from a friend in Boston. We hadn’t spoken in 20 years, and he said, “Father, could you please visit my friend? He’s down at the […]Read more

The mysterious metal sound. What on earth was that clanging and banging and slamming of doors sound every morning? This is a story I heard from the founder of Opus Dei, Josemaría Escrivá. When he was a young priest in the 1930s, he would hear confessions in a Madrid church from 7 to 8 in […]Read more

His first words as Pope were “Do not be afraid.” That’s why he said, “I’ll come.” John Paul II did something that hadn’t been done for over 100 years. That’s absolutely right, and I was a witness of it. Do you know what it is?  John Paul II, in 1982, did an outdoor Corpus Christi […]Read more

Do you know how much THAT will cost? If you want your children to always practice the faith, just listen to this story. When I was a chaplain at Northridge Prep, a parent came to me with a dilemma. “Father,” he said, “I like to take my kids and family up north to go fishing […]Read more

What is the greatest sacrament of them all?   Hi everyone. This is Father Rocky in the Cathedral of Saint Francis Xavier in Green Bay, WI for another lesson on the Holy Eucharist.   What is the greatest sacrament of them all? It’s the Holy Eucharist, the Most Blessed Sacrament, because it contains God Himself, Jesus Christ, […]Read more

Did you ever wonder why there are so many beautiful Catholic churches right next to the expressways in our big cities in America?   If you live in a big city, not too far from an Expressway, you know what I mean… There are all these beautiful Catholic churches right next to the Expressway. Why is […]Read more

It was Good Friday afternoon, and the old priest wouldn’t let me open the confessional door.   Hi everyone. This is Father Rocky at the Cathedral of Saint Francis Xavier in Green Bay, WI with another lesson about the Holy Eucharist in our ongoing Eucharistic Encounters as we all prepare for the National Eucharistic Congress in […]Read more