Years ago, my mother-in-law went on a Christmas cookie-baking binge, making cookie plates for those needing cheering up at Christmastime. But she waited until Christmas eve to embark on this noble task as a major snowstorm blew in town. Hurrying to finish the project, she gave me the plates ...

One of the ways I learn best from the New Testament is to read and try to understand what Jesus’ parables meant for listeners in his time and us as we read or hear them today. Sometimes he spoke to his followers, but sometimes his audience included the temple chief priests and authorities. ...

It was early Christmas Eve in 1818 when the priests of St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf, Austria, learned that the broken pipe organ would not be repaired in time for the Christmas Eve Midnight Mass. Joseph Mohr, St. Nicholas' associate priest, was the first to hear the bad news and was deeply ...

Services for the first Tama County World War II veteran whose body was returned from overseas was held for Pvt. Milo C. Upah, son of Mrs. Francess Upah of Chelsea, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Chelsea with the Rev. Father W. Panek reading the requiem high mass. Private Upah was killed ...

There’s one thing (of many) that I love about life: you are never done learning. If you are open to new practices, habits, and ideas, there is much more to explore and discover. Big things, little things, and everything in between. The day you stop learning is the day you stop living. I ...

My wife took me to an out-of-the-way shop some years ago to see how potters “throw clay,” as they call it. He beat a hunk of clay mercilessly, ensuring all air pockets were out. Then he took that chunk and threw it on his potter’s wheel, peddling the wheel with his feet as fast as he ...

Lately, I’ve been interested in happiness - scientifically speaking, of course. That sounds counterintuitive, oxymoronic even. How can the cut-and-dried factual-based world of science have anything to do with something as instinctive and emotional as happiness? Turns out they have more in ...

Ever had one of those string of Christmas tree lights where half the lights work and the other half won’t unless you shake, drop, or attempt to lasso the garbage can or the ceiling fan with them, hoping to stimulate the unlit bulbs to magically light, for one more season? It’s then that ...

November is typically a gratitude month. It’s a time for us to take stock of and count our blessings, be mindful of them, and appreciate all that life has bestowed upon us. We all know we should practice gratitude every day of the year, but heck, like the song, says: one out of twelve ...

St. Paul challenges us in Ephesians 5:20 "To give thanks to the Father for everything." Of course, not all of life's circumstances are always worthy of thanks, but probably in any circumstance we go through, we can find others going through much worse. So, although difficult, it is a ...