Twenty-five years ago, I was the newly installed Bishop of Bridgeport, Conn. I was still learning the rhythm of my new diocese – its priests, its people and its parishes – when routine meetings called me away to Washington, D.C., for a conference. It concluded Sept. 10, 2001. I flew back to the New York area with two friends, looking forward to spending the following day together. 

If you knew Jeff Nattans, you must remember his smile. He was always pleasant, always upbeat, and always eager to connect with people around him.

Q: In the Gospel’s account of Peter’s confession of Christ, Jesus responded with: “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.” I sometimes wonder if it wouldn’t have been better if Jesus would have skipped the wordplay and simply said: “Peter, I’m making you the first head of my Church.” The verse as is, seems subject to a lot of interpretation. When I was Protestant we all said that the verse implied that the Church would be built on a general confession of Christ, and Peter’s was but one example. Could you comment? (Indiana)

Reluctant as I am to fiddle with the U.S. Constitution, I’m willing to consider an amendment banning any elementary school from opening before Labor Day.

I wonder if you can tell the age of a person by the number of dead people’s phone numbers he still has saved on his phone? It could be like judging the age of a tree by the rings on its core.

Q: I know officially the Catholic Church is against the death penalty, but what about Genesis 9:6?

A: It looks like there are two dimensions to your question: the Church’s teaching on the death penalty, and how we are to read the Old Testament as Catholics.

I hope whatever this new school year brings for our young people and their families, they know God is with them. And I hope they find joy in being brave.

As Dolly Parton once said, “I like trying to make people happy and lift people up and glorifying God. That’s my mission in life.”

In my youth I knew a mother who played cruel “jokes” on babies. With a little one seated on her lap, she would temptingly show a biscuit or a candy, and — just as the excited infant leaned forward, arms and legs churning, mouth open — she would devour it, with a laugh.

Leaving Quo Vadis, I felt a calling and a mission. For several years, I had been discerning a vocation to the priesthood, but that call often seemed to come more from my mind than from my heart. Through this retreat and the experiences I encountered there, that changed