Have you been doing anything special for the Jubilee Year of Mercy? Or do you have lots of good intentions but haven’t done anything yet, (except maybe walk through the Holy Door in your diocese?) Well, join the club. I did read Pope Francis’ “Face of Mercy” a few months ago though. And I noticed Read more
By sheer coincidence, I was in Rome on Feb. 11, 2013. My wife and I had already moved back to the United States from Rome, but on that date I had returned to give a talk on religious freedom at the Italian Foreign Ministry, which is why I happened to be in town when the Read more
Chocolate, candy, and sweets are common Lenten sacrifices, but giving up the same thing every year can begin to feel like a routine rather than a sacrifice. Fasting should be a meaningful gesture of self-denial out of love for God. All the better if it helps us grow in self-control and deeper appreciation for various Read more
This is my confession. I was tricked into accepting God back into my life. Yes, you read that right, I was tricked. Duped. Hoodwinked. Bamboozled – or perhaps more accurately, I was enticed by fireworks. After all, simple things amuse simple minds and as soon as my friend told me they were doing backyard fireworks Read more
With the future welfare and prosperity of our nation dependent on the effective education of our next generation, denying the reality of hardship or poverty in New Zealand is futile and self defeating. While official inflation is under control, housing costs have increased at twice the rate of wages and other incomes. With many families Read more
So, the pope is cool and “groovy” for telling priests and nuns not to “drop a gossip bomb” on their peers. He told members of the clergy in an improvised speech: “If you get an urge to say something against a brother or a sister, to drop a gossip bomb, bite your tongue! Hard!” We’ve Read more
Due to the blizzard that hit the mid-Atlantic, my bus never made it to the 43rd March for Life in Washington, D.C. But thousands of others were able to brave the snow and wind to witness to the dignity of unborn human life, and to protest the gravely immoral practice of legal abortion in the Read more
When I was 17 years old I wanted to convert to Buddhism. Raised by a Catholic family and forced to attend religious education classes until I was almost 13, I’d had enough of what I perceived to be an overly-conservative institution that relied on “Catholic guilt” and strict adherence to doctrine. So, I sought out Read more
As part of the elderly population, we are aware of the publicity given people our age. Most of the news is focussed on welfare issues, while increased advertising suggests there is money to be made retirement villages, rest homes and funerals. Very little is said about the gifts of wisdom that can come only with Read more
Last Friday, the day the massive “March for Life” rally barely beat the blizzard to Washington DC, I heard a homily during Mass at Boston College that both surprised and encouraged me. Jesuit priest Peter Folan told a story about a couple seeking counsel from a priest, any priest, whoever happened to be in the Read more