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Echoes is the opinion section of TheBostonPilot.com. The Boston Pilot is a daily news Catholic newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts, covering news and opinion about the Catholic Church and Catholic life. We carry daily news from Boston, New England, US, the Vatican, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Central and Latin America. The Boston Pilot is part of the Pilot Media Group, America's oldest Catholic newspaper and the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston.

And with Pentecost, we return to Ordinary Time. Just like that. The paschal candle is no longer front and center, the Easter lilies are gone, and the extra alleluias have retreated. The incense and holy water that mark the liturgical pageantry of Holy Week and the joy of the Resurrection have disappeared into safe-keeping once again. At least this year, Ordinary Time feels a lot more ordinary than it did last year. More people and fewer masks make it seem almost normal, and almost as if Easter really did come at the end of what has been an almost endless Lent. Almost.

This week marks the end of an era for us. Marjeta has handed in her last lab report, written her last paper, and taken her last exam. Our youngest child is graduating from college. It's funny how a student's college years feel both interminably long and over in the blink of an eye. Flying down to New Orleans to move her into the dorm feels like yesterday and a lifetime ago all at once. She was certainly prepared -- but not necessarily for everything she'd encounter along the way. That's why the freshman mix of confidence and fear, excitement and anxiety can be so intense.

I definitely got it backwards, upside-down, and inside-out this year. Instead of committing to attending daily Mass for Lent, I started going the day after Easter. If truth be told, I probably could have made it a habit before. In fact, I know I could have. But probably not on Thursdays. It's funny how easily Thursday meetings at 8 a.m. became my excuse for not going to Mass on the other four weekdays. Actually, it isn't funny at all. The word "sloth" comes to mind. But that's how at least some of us humans work, isn't it? We're experts at taking a small obstacle and turn it into a reason for...

Throughout the history of the Church, the saints have spoken some very valuable pearls of wisdom. But there's one quotable quote I wish wasn't misquoted (and misattributed) so often. I'll bet that within the past year, you've heard it, too. It usually goes something like this: "Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words." This exhortation is invariably credited to the illustrious St. Francis of Assisi, although there is no evidence he ever said or wrote anything even remotely like it. It bothers me more than usual at this time of year, when we hear the accounts of Jesus appea...