Browsing Reflections from Fr. Jasper
Welcoming the Stranger
Posted by Peg O'Donnell
September 24, 2023
A few weeks back, a young man was visiting our area from his home in central Virginia. A Bible retreat for young adults was being held at one of the local “Sandynamed” camps, and his girlfriend asked him to join her and her church that ... Read More »
School Days
Posted by Peg O'Donnell
September 17, 2023
My Mom still loves telling the story of how I used to cling to the neighborhood oak trees on my way to the bus stop, refusing to go to school. “By eighth grade, thank God, he grew out of it,” she would say, smiling as ... Read More »
So Much More
Posted by Peg O'Donnell
September 10, 2023
“If it’s just a symbol, then to hell with it.” So said famed Southern writer Flannery O’Connor when dinner guests began challenging her on the Catholic Church’s teaching on the Real Presence of Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
For many people today – including ... Read More »
The Five F's
Posted by Peg O'Donnell
September 3, 2023
The very first question I was asked upon arriving here at Immaculate Conception back at the end of June was the following: “Father, do you golf?” To which I replied: “Does miniature-golf count?” Sadly, unlike many of my clergy confreres, I am not skilled ... Read More »
Getting Ready
Posted by Peg O'Donnell
August 27, 2023
A parishioner from a church to which I was assigned about ten years ago as part of seminary formation sent me photos of some letters and a handmade baptismal garment she found in her grandmother’s attic. “Father, look at this bundle of religious items from ... Read More »
Being Church Today
Posted by Peg O'Donnell
August 20, 2023
The parish community where I was raised was, without a doubt, the center of my life growing-up. I worshipped in the church weekly, was educated in the parish school, received most of my sacraments there, and even spent six incredible years teaching middle school students ... Read More »
Walking on (New) Water
Posted by Peg O'Donnell
August 13, 2023
It’s a powerful moment in this Sunday’s Gospel: Jesus makes his disciples climb into a boat and set out for other shores while he went alone to pray on a high mountain, to be united with His Father. It took trust for those apostles to set ... Read More »
See Something, Say Something
Posted by Peg O'Donnell
August 6, 2023
Mrs. Winters was my family’s next-door neighbor for nearly the entire time we lived on Brunswick Avenue. She was eccentric and quirky and wasn’t afraid to march to the beat of her own drum. She named the squirrels she fed and could actually distinguish them ... Read More »
All's Fair
Posted by Peg O'Donnell
July 30, 2023
I’m learning much these days about the county I now call home: shortcuts to St. Jude’s that keep me off Route 40. The supermarkets with the best sales and local restaurants with hearty breakfasts. The fact that the Amtrak train makes a lot of noise ... Read More »
The Patron Saint of...
Posted by Peg O'Donnell
July 23, 2023
My Dad’s mom – I called her Mom-Mom – used to come to our house every Tuesday. I couldn’t wait to get home from school, for she would already be sitting at the kitchen table talking with my Mom over a cup of tea ... Read More »