My mission is to share the wisdom and experiences gained over a lifetime dedicated to faith, service, and personal growth. In my retirement, I will use this platform to offer reflections, insights, and stories from my 80 years of life, 54 years as a priest, and 13 years as a bishop. Through openness and humility, I aim to inspire, educate, and resonate with readers, seeking the Holy Spirit’s guidance in all that I write. May this endeavor bring glory to God and foster a sense of shared journey and mutual understanding among all who read.
Bishop Ray’s Blog
Finding Meaning in Each Day
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Lent and Holy Week – So Unique; So Special!
Read more: Lent and Holy Week – So Unique; So Special!What a beautiful Lenten journey I have experienced! Since Ash Wednesday (Feb. 18th), I’ve been so blessed in so many ways by entering into this most sacred season of the Catholic church’s calendar year. Lent has been extraordinarily graceful this year, and I am profoundly grateful to God for this experience. I’ve enjoyed the scripture readings at Mass – most especially the gospels for the Sundays of Lent. Each of the Sunday gospels have been a beautiful image not only for personal reflection but also for preaching material. The temptations of Christ, the transfiguration, the woman at the well, the man born blind, the raising of Lazarus, and, of course, the Passion Gospel read every year on Palm Sunday. These Cycle A Gospel readings (taken from St. Matthew and St. John), as well…
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The Mentoring Role: A Tremendous Privilege!
Read more: The Mentoring Role: A Tremendous Privilege!A bishop is called to be a father, a brother, and a friend to the priests he serves! These three roles are unique, but at times they overlap. Looking back on my almost 55 years of priesthood and nearly 14 years as a Bishop, the role of priest friend has been such an important part of my life. I’ve often said that only another priest – especially a priest who is a dear friend -can truly understand what his priest friend is experiencing. Family is vitally important if a priest is blessed to still have members of his family to…
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What’s in a name? For me, it was a deliberate choice
Read more: What’s in a name? For me, it was a deliberate choiceParents of a newborn child have an awesome task of selecting a name for their child! It was formerly a custom for Catholic parents to select a saint’s name so that the child would have a saintly role model for the young person to imitate and to have as a heavenly intercessor! Let me add that in families of Italian origin, it was customary to name the children after grandfathers and grandmothers. Definitely, my family followed that cultural trend as well as ensuring that Catholic saints would be chosen for their names. My oldest brother, Charles (called Charlie later in…
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My Original Plan: A Mom’s Intervention!
Read more: My Original Plan: A Mom’s Intervention!Even as a young boy, thoughts about being a priest filled my mind. The influence of priests, a Catholic school education, and a faith-filled family contributed heavily to my thought process. I really never seriously considered any other vocation because I felt a strong call to the priesthood at an early age. Not every priest felt the call that early. For me, it was the only thing I really ever wanted to do. It was actually in the fifth grade at Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Astoria when I became an altar server. I came to know the…
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