Fr. Patrick J. O'Doherty

06/02/2026

A SPARE RIB

It is very normal and natural for men and women to be attracted to one another, but don’t think for a moment that this comes from ourselves. We are designed by God to be attracted to one another and to marry recognizing at the same time that there are some men and women who are called on to renounce the goodness of marriage for the sake of being completely available to Jesus for the sake of His Kingdom.

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone, I will make him a helpmate suitable to himself.” So the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon Adam and while he slept, God took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. Then he built up into a woman the rib he had taken from the man. When He brought her to the man, the man rejoiced exclaiming, “This one at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. This one shall be called woman for out of her man this one has been taken.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife and the two of them become one – they are no longer two, but one flesh. What God has joined, men must not divide.

Notice it is God who says, “It is not good for the man to be alone; it is God who creates woman and it is God who brings her to the man. Perhaps the reason so many marriages today end in misery, failure and divorce is because it was not God who brought them together to begin with. Suppose a couple is one flesh before they are joined by God in Holy Marriage, suppose too they marry in this state of sin without ever seeking forgiveness and they continue through their early marriage in the same state of sin, supposing too they are contracepting and perhaps aborting contrary to the will of the All Holy God, what chance does their marriage have? They are not married in God or doing it His way.

God knows a lot about bad marriages since He was in one Himself. God chose Israel to be His bride. He loved her with an everlasting love, yet she betrayed the marriage constantly. There came a new marriage that was consummated on Calvary. Jesus the new Israel made a marriage between mankind and God on the Cross of Calvary. In Christ, we are married to God. Remember the first Adam, the wounded side, the rib and the creation of Eve. Well God cast a deep sleep upon Jesus the New Adam. While Jesus slept the sleep of death on the cross, God opened His side and out came blood and water. With water He washed us clean of our sin and consummated a marriage with us by our receiving His body, blood, soul and divinity when we receive Holy Communion.

Soon He will bring us to His Father’s house.

06/01/2026

https://youtu.be/cGidosEnKC8

In this video you are introduced to Padre Pio’s Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which I prayed in this video for my intentions. I encourage ...

05/31/2026

BEHOLD THE FACE OF LOVE

Jesus was led like a lamb to the slaughter. As a young boy, I led many lambs to the slaughter and they all went quietly, without protest or resistance. Knocked unconscious in an instant, their throats cut. Yet there is something in us, in me, that resists the slaughter, that resists being hurt and that resists being vulnerable, that even resists loving and being loved. Could Jesus have resisted being led to Calvary? I believe so – did he not tell St. Peter to put up his sword and not resist arrest. Did he not say to him, “Am I not to drink the cup that my Father gave me to drink? Could I not call on 12 legions of angels to protect me?” However he didn’t call on angels and he did drink the cup of affliction to its last drop in the horror of Calvary,spikes through his hands and feet, suffocating, praying for his enemies. Behold the face of love.

Me? – I walk around - afraid, on guard. It’s not a paralyzing fear, but it’s there smoldering underneath. People could hurt me, may want something from me. There is even a certain fear about putting this down in writing knowing that there are some people who would even use this to hurt me. When and why did I become so vulnerable and defensive? Why can’t we be completely vulnerable to everyone, friends and enemies alike – why can’t we love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, pray for those who persecute us? Well, I can’t, yet. I hear a voice that says, ‘You can do all things in me who gives you strength.

Look at little babies laid on their backs, stripped naked, washed, cleaned and diapered all the time making sounds of love and Mom and Dad also making sounds of love. Yet at the other end of the spectrum one of the horrors for people has to do with being washed and cleaned and diapered by somebody else. What changed in between – we grew up. Seems like growing down to me.

Then there is human s*x and love. When it comes to s*x, it is only us humans who can feel shame. We don’t do s*x in the front yard! Dogs do. Outside of marriage we don’t rush home to tell our parents, our brothers and sisters or the other person’s brothers or sisters and parents. Why not, if it’s all so perfectly natural? Human s*x is a statement. If you scowl, clench your fists and turn away from me, you are telling me something without words. In the same way, lying flat on one’s back, stark naked, one cannot be more vulnerable and unprotected. It says, “I am totally vulnerable to you, totally open to you.” R**e is such a frightful crime because you can’t force a person’s body to be open to you in total love. S*x and marriage are God’s idea and He gives them to us for babies and bonding. You cannot give yourself completely to another or receive the other completely for say 10 minutes. I hear people say “well, they both want to have s*x, what’s wrong with that?”Using the same reasoning, suppose my partner wants to be enslaved or wants me to help them commit su***de, what would be wrong with that?

And so they led Jesus out of the city, stripped him of his garments, nailed him to a cross, naked and exposed. Behold the Face of Love.

05/30/2026

https://youtu.be/3BrRs_12MS0

June is a very important month this year with many offerings to our...

05/29/2026

JOHN GOTTI, MOB BOSS – REST IN PEACE

In 2002, the earthly remains of mob boss John Gotti were laid to rest in St. John’s Cemetery in New York. I hope he’s in heaven. When Jesus told us about the lost sheep that was found, He said, “There is more joy in heaven over one repentant sinner than over 99 righteous people who do penance and don’t need to.”

Can anyone imagine that there would be joy in heaven if even one soul was damned in Hell for all eternity? Could God, could Christ, could the angels and saints be happy when children created for heaven are in hell? They say that Dapper Don John Gotti schemed and murdered his way to the top of the Gambino crime family, then was brought down on charges of murder and racketeering. John Gotti died of cancer at a Federal Prison hospital. I do hope he’s in heaven – it is not the will of our heavenly Father that anyone of us should be lost.

John Gotti was nicknamed “Dapper Don” for the expensive suits he wore around the city. Many people said they admired him – perhaps they were afraid to say otherwise. Bruce Cutler, a lawyer, said of Gotti, “He was sincere, he was genuine, he was remarkable. Sincere in what way? Genuine in what sense? Remarkable for his holiness of life maybe? A spectator outside the cemetery said, “There was a lot worse out there, I’ve always enjoyed the man. He was a great character. He stood up against everyone and everything.” I think to myself how great a saint he would have been had he been on the side of Christ Jesus. Gotti’s brothers, Peter and Gene, and his son John could not attend the funeral – they were in jail.

The Bishop of Brooklyn ruled that Gotti was not entitled to a funeral Mass – I don’t know what kind of a service was held for him, although I’ve prayed for him and hope he’s in heaven. So why no Mass of Christian Burial for Gotti? At issue here was ‘causing scandal’. The people of God would be scandalized by granting a funeral Mass to someone who lived outside church teachings. Apparently there was no evidence of repentance in John Gotti as he died. I can only hope that like the good thief on the cross, he whispered as he was dying, “Jesus, remember me when you have come into your kingdom.”

Bishop Daily was right in refusing the Mass of Christian burial, but that does not stop us from praying for John Gotti. Lord, have mercy on the soul of Dapper John.

All this raises a question for me – should the Mass of Christian burial be refused to all the Catholics who support killing in the womb by voting into power people who kill far more than John Gotti ever did? Should the Mass of Christian Burial be refused to all those priests, ministers and politicians who say, “I personally don’t believe in abortion, but I think others have the right to choose. “ That’s saying “I personally don’t approve of homicide, but I think others have the right to choose it.” You cannot say with any logic or sanity or Christianity that it is wrong to kill people unless they are babies still in the womb. May we see you in heaven, Dapper Don.

05/27/2026

SATAN AND THE THREE GEMS

The Holy Spirit of God led Jesus our Lord into the desert to be tempted by the Devil. Look who did the leading: the Holy Spirit of God. In times past, men and women withdrew from the utter corruption of the Roman Empire to live in the desert – I presume they were trying to live holy lives and surely they too were tempted by the Devil. The desert has traditionally been considered the abode of demons, but in this day and age because of the evil men do in the city, the desert has spread into the city – the city has become the abode of demons and one doesn’t have to go any place to meet them.

I’m sitting at the kitchen table in Ocala, Fl. ‘Twould be too dramatic to say the Unholy One is sitting on the chair at the other end of the table. ‘Twould give you the wrong impression. The angel of light is not so earthbound as me, so just like the Lord, I experience Satan inside myself. The word ‘satan’ means a prosecuting attorney and the word ‘devil’ means slanderer and that’s what he does – he accuses and he slanders.

Imagine a court scene. The Lord God, the Ancient of Days, takes His seat upon his Royal Throne. In come the sons of God, prosecuting and defense attorneys and among the sons of God is Satan. God says to Satan, “Where have you been?” “Roaming up and down Ocala, FL and patrolling it,” says Satan. “Well” says God, “have you seen my priest?” “You mean O’Doherty?” says Satan. “Yes, I have – in fact he’s sitting there writing about us even as we speak.” “He wants to be a saint,” says God, “and furthermore he wants everybody else to be one too. You heard him Sunday telling my people: ‘before you get out of bed each morning, ask God to give you the mind and heart of Jesus and every day on each bead of your rosary, say Jesus, I love you, possess me.” “Yeah, yeah, yeah”, says Satan, “You’ve blessed him, so why shouldn’t he encourage all of them to desire sanctity; but let me have a go at him, let me crush him with doubts, with unbelief, with despair and let’s see him be faithful to You.” “Done,” says the Lord, “but don’t kill him.” End of this story for now. What transpires between me and Satan is in the hands of God.

I carry on my person three gems, but I could as easily refer to them as scourges. The first written on a piece of scrip paper says, “We must be nothing. Nothing, that God may make us something – let us lie down again deep in anonymous humility and God may find us worthy material for his hand.” Gem 2: “Go break to the needy Sweet Charity’s bread, for giving is loving, the angel said. But must I give again and again without stopping? Oh, no! said the angel, with yourself be true. Just give ‘til the Lord stops giving to you.” Gem 3: “In those truly dedicated to God, thoughts of self have fallen away like worn garments. Their one concern is to spread the Kingdom of God.” (See why I call them scourges.)

05/26/2026

THE PELICAN AND THE ANTI-CHRIST

Before there was an alphabet, before there was A,B,C,D etc., we had symbols and signs. Symbols and signs are a shorthand of a culture. For example, the area around the town of Bethlehem in Judea was a very prosperous grain growing district. The symbol for that area was a little square with a triangle on top of it, which would make it look like a little house. The area was known and symbolized by a little house because it was “the house of bread.” From this symbol, the house a triangle on a square, we get our letter B. The area became known as Bethlehem after the alphabet was developed and Bethlehem means ‘the house of bread.’ Visualize a little house symbol with a cross on top of it and you would know a church was being symbolized. The Catholic Church is very much ‘a house of bread’ where we receive Christ in Holy Communion under the appearance of bread.

How about the letter A? Visualize the letter V lying on its side with one leg up in the air. Now half way up along the legs of the V, draw a line from one leg to the other. This V lying on its side with a line joining the legs together was the symbol for two oxen yoked together. The two legs of the V lying on its side represent the necks of the oxen and the line joining them together the yoke across their necks attaching them to each other and to the plough or cart. The Greeks thought this symbol looked better standing up and so we have the letter A or Alpha in the Greek.

In the Book of Revelation, Jesus describes Himself as the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. On the front of our altar, on the doors of the Tabernacle, on the Crucifixion window we have the Alpha and Omega symbols for Christ Jesus. So what about the other letters? I don’t know and I hear you say, ‘thank God.’

The Shell Gasoline sign displays a scallop shell and it has a long history. In medieval Europe, pilgrims on the way to the shrine of St. James in Compostella, Spain, would wear a scallop shell on their clothing or baggage. Seeing this scallop shell, people would know to aid these pilgrims on their way. This has survived in the ‘aid to travelers’ of the Shell gas sign. (We’ll sell no gas before you pay for it.) Since the scallop shell was also used as a container to pour water at Baptism, it came to symbolize our baptism where we died with Christ and rise from the dead with Him to begin our pilgrimage through this valley of tears towards the promised land of Heaven.

In the ancient world, the Pelican became a symbol of Christ. The ancient sailors believed that the pelican picked the flesh from its own breast to feed its young, so quickly they saw a connection with Christ Jesus, who said, “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you cannot have life in you.” In the Greek Church, there is a prayer addressed to Christ the Pelican and in Ireland the Blood Bank is called Pelican House.

Also in ancient times, as we do today, letters and numbers were often interchangeable, e.g., call 1-800- JKL-WOLF. So it is in the Book of Revelation, the number of the Beast who persecutes the Church is 666. If you add up the numeric value of Caesar Nero’s name in Latin, it comes out to 666. He was an anti-Christ as far as the first Christians were concerned. Today 666 is symbolic of any anti-Christ and there are many of them in the world today.

05/25/2026

MEMORIAL DAY
Memorial Day - Remembering those who died for us. Pearl Harbor, Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, 911, World War II. When Christ comes back again in glory to judge the living and the dead, the sea will give up its dead, all who are buried in the dust of the earth will rise and he will gather his elect from the four winds.

The greatest compliment Jesus ever gave was to a military man, a centurion. The centurion had a servant, who was sick and near death. Having heard about Jesus he sent some Jewish elders to Him to ask him to come and heal his servant. When the Jewish elders came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him. “He deserves this of you because he is friendly towards our people.”they said. “In fact, he is the one who built the synagogue”. So, Jesus went with them, and was not very far from the house when the Centurion sent word to him by some friends: “Sir”, he said, “do not put yourself through trouble, because I am not worthy to have you under my roof, but give the word and my servant will be cured. For I am under authority myself, and have soldiers under me, and I say to one man, go, and he goes, to another, come here and he comes, to my servant do this and he does it.”

When Jesus heard these words, he was astonished at him and, turning around, said to the crowd following him, “I tell you, not even in Israel have a found faith like this.” When the messengers got back to the house, they found the servant in perfect health.

At Holy Mass we remember the centurion just before we receive Holy Communion. “Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” It was a soldier standing beneath the cross of Christ seeing the manner in which Jesus died who said, “Truly this man was the son of God.” And ‘twas Neil Diamond who sang, “And Jesus was a sailor when he walked upon the water and he said that all men are sailors until the sea shall claim them.”

Let's pray together the Fatima Prayer for all our war dead. “Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy. “

05/23/2026

https://youtu.be/w_d8zsafXR4

Beginning with Pentecost, in this video we take a look at the activity of the Holy Spirit throughout time and history. Come Holy Spirit, breathe on us.

05/22/2026

7 HEADS, 7 EYES, 7 HORNS

The Book of Revelation is full of symbols and visions, beasts with seven heads, lambs with seven eyes and seven horns, men and women with 666 written on their foreheads, burning lakes of sulfur, etc., etc. Not knowing the meaning of the symbols, I imagine many give up. Let us for now concentrate on one vision described in Chapter 4 & 5 of the Book of Revelation and see, with the help of God, if we can we translate the symbols and signs back to understandable language.

John (probably the same John who leaned on Jesus’ chest at the Last Supper) had a vision. He saw an open door and on the other side is heaven. A trumpet-like voice invites him into heaven so that he might be shown what is to come in the future. John sees the throne of God but is most anxious not to describe the one who sits on the throne as an Ancient One with a white beard, etc. John tries to describe the One who sits on the throne in terms of “light.” The one on the throne had an appearance that sparkled like jasper and carnelian and around the throne was a halo as brilliant as an emerald. Using images of jasper, carnelian, an emerald, John is letting us know that God is Light and in him there is no darkness. There is a sea of glass like crystal (more light) around the throne.

Next we are introduced to 24 elders (12 + 12) seated on thrones surrounding the throne of “Light.” These represent the 12 Apostles and the 12 Tribes of Israel. The heavenly Jerusalem will be made up of people from the Old Testament, the Jews of the 12 Tribes and of people from the New Testament, the Church founded on the 12 Apostles.

Then we are introduced to 4 living creatures in the center, but also around the throne of “Light”. They represent the qualities of the one seated on the throne: a lion for everything kingly and noble, a bull for everything strong, an eagle for everything swift and a man for everything wise. So the one who is seated on the throne is all noble, all strong, all swift and all wise. Each of these creatures has 6 wings covered with eyes (again the eyes suggesting that the one on the throne knows all things and is concerned about all things).

There are seven flaming lamp stands in front of the One seated on the throne and seven stars in His right hand. The seven flaming lamp stands represent the Church on earth which is always in His sight and the 7 stars represent the 7 Guardian Angels of the Universal Church. Day and night the four living creatures, the twenty-four elders never stop exclaiming, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. He was, He is, He is to come.” Notice at Holy Mass how we join with all the angels and saints proclaiming, “Holy, Holy, Holy.” John next sees a scroll sealed with seven seals and he weeps because nobody in Heaven was found worthy to open the scroll and so let us know what is to come.

Next, John sees a lamb that seemed to have been slain (obviously Jesus) with 7 horns (all power) and 7 eyes (all knowledge- the Holy Spirit) among the 24 elders and the four living creatures and he is worthy to receive from the One on the throne the scroll and open it. Now the 4 living creatures and the 24 elders who had worshipped the one who sat on the throne now worship the Lamb (Jesus). They sang a new hymn, “Worthy is the Lamb to receive the scroll and break open its seals for the Lamb was slain (on the cross) and purchased for God men of every tribe and nation and Jesus made them a kingdom of priests for God. (At Holy Mass, we the priestly people offer ourselves with Jesus the Priest to God.) Now everything in Heaven and on earth cry out in a loud voice:

“Worthy is the Lamb (Jesus) that was slain to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor, glory and blessing.” And we proclaim at Holy Mass, “… for Thine is the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory for ever and ever, Amen.” The rest of the Book of Revelation tells what is to come as the seals are broken, opened by Jesus the Lamb.

Request: Some time today read chapter 1 of the Book of Revelation, it’s just one page. Peace.