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Father John Gerard Hillier
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Article 135 - Catechism of the Catholic Church Series Paragraphs 1776 -1794 Isn’t it true that there is much in our lives that we forget or perhaps simply suppress? I recalled one such memory recently when I heard the word “glockenspiel” mentioned on a television show...In my mind, I was suddenly transported back to the days of my youth when, throughout grammar school and into high school, I played the guitar and the clarinet. A tragic accident during my teenage years, however, caused me to break both arms and wrists; and, as a result, I no longer enjoyed the dexterity (fine motor skills) to play these instruments. Realizing my disappointment, my band instructor showed up at my house one Saturday morning with a musical instrument unfamiliar to me. He suggested that I could participate in the upcoming concerts for the current academic year with a new instrument called the glockenspiel, a percussion instrument easy to learn because it is composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano or organ. The added advantage was that the two wooden mallets used to play the instrument would also help strengthen my wrists and arms.Read More
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Article 134 - Catechism of the Catholic Church Series Paragraphs 1762 -1770 Many of you may recall your excitement as a teenager that the day finally arrived when you received your “learners permit” to drive a car. For me, following a meticulous reading of the driving manual from the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), and then the written test, my next challenge was to convince my dad to teach me how to actually drive. An empty church parking lot on a Sunday afternoon became the initial place where I sat behind the wheel for the first time and began my driving lessons. Later, I graduated to a quiet neighborhood with few moving vehicles before moving onto a regular thoroughfare.Read More -
What does it mean to live a moral life? Most of us would immediately answer by invoking the name of Jesus and stating that following in the footsteps of Christ is to live a moral life. This includes, among other things, that we must make sacrifices if we want to be followers of Jesus. In the Gospel of Luke, we read: “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Lk 9:23). That doesn’t mean we have to do something so big that it makes it onto the evening news. Neither do we have to fast all of the time or pray most of the day into the night.Read More -
Article 132 - Catechism of the Catholic Church Series Paragraphs 1730 -1742 Did you know that it is a capital offense to practice the Catholic faith in places like Afghanistan, Iran and Saudi Arabia? It is no exaggeration to say that “freedom,” a gift given to us by God, is something that citizens of certain countries are prohibited from exercising, especially with regard to their religious faith. In fact, some national leaders insist that freedom is not a right that people have, but a privilege given to them by the state. There is no real semblance of “freedom” in these countries nor in others like them, especially regarding the practice of Christianity.Read More -
Among the poems my dad would often recite from memory was a poem called “Trees” by New Brunswick, New Jersey native Alfred Joyce Kilmer. I fondly recall the opening line: “I think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree;” and the final line would always bring a smile to my face: “Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree.”Read More
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