I like actual books, and have a lot of them. I also like the power of digital resources, and have depended upon Verbum--a Catholic Bible study software package--for my weekly homily prep for over a decade.
“A voice crying out in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord.” (Matt. 3:3; Luke 3:4) At the age of 35 I converted to Catholicism. Less than two years later I entered seminary. In 1991 I was ordained a priest.
For Father Brian Eilers, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Bryan, the numbers are the motivation. The population of the Bryan/College Station area has approximately doubled in the past 20 years. Demographics suggest that about 19%, or 50,000, are Catholic. Yet, Mass attendance had not changed prior to the pandemic and has declined since.
When Father Zack Rodriquez, parochial vicar at St. Louis King of France parish in Austin, was ordained into the priesthood in Rome two years ago, he figured that he was coming home to his native Texas. Unbeknownst to Father Zack, God and Bishop Vásquez had other plans.