Disobedience to the Pope: Some parishioners asked me recently: what is the difference between regular Catholics and SSPX Catholics, and why are SSPX excommunicated by the Vatican?

There’s a nice story about a farmer who entered each year his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovering that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors, asked: "How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?”

Happy July Fourth! This 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence is an opportune time to reflect upon the great privilege and responsibility of living in this “land of the free and home of the brave.” Our Bishops’ Conference consecrated our nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus last month. Here in our parish too, we prayed the Novena to the Sacred Heart, culminating in the prayer of consecration on June 11.