Perspective
A talk on the Hill
A couple of weeks ago, I had the distinct privilege of addressing an audience of senators, representatives and Capitol Hill staffers in a beautiful room at the Library of Congress. […]
Perspective
What I learned talking with skeptics on Reddit
Earlier this month I finished my second dive into the Reddit AMA world. One of the most popular websites in the world, Reddit is a forum for all sorts of online […]
Perspective
Cardinal Etchegaray, Henri de Lubac and Vatican II
Last week, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray passed away. Perhaps his was not a household name, but this very decent man made a substantive contribution to the life of the Church, serving […]
Perspective
Finding God in all things
There is, to be sure, a stress within the Biblical tradition that God is radically other: “Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.” […]
Perspective
Wake up: the real danger posed by the California confession bill
Senate Bill 360, a piece of proposed legislation currently making its way through the California state Senate, should alarm not only every Catholic in the country, but indeed the adepts […]
Perspective
Seeing abortion
We stand at a pivotal point in the great moral debate over abortion in our country — not because new arguments have emerged, but rather because laws so breathtaking in […]
Perspective
Frank Gehry and transcendence
Though I reside in Santa Barbara, I am in Los Angeles a good deal for meetings and other events. When I’m in the city, I like to walk the downtown […]
Perspective
The internet and Satan’s game
By now the entire country has seen a video of a supposedly racist confrontation, in front of the Lincoln Memorial, between a grinning young high school student and a Native […]
Perspective
Talking to some young Jesuits about social justice and evangelization
While I was in Chicago for the Christmas break, I had a wonderful meeting with around 30 young Jesuits, all in their “pre-tertianship” period of formation. This means that these […]
Perspective
The challenge of John Chau
Perhaps you’ve heard the extraordinary story of John Chau, the young Christian missionary who tried to bring the Gospel to North Sentinel Island, one of the most remote and isolated […]
Perspective
A new apologetics: Bishop Barron’s youth synod intervention
NOTE: On Oct. 4, Bishop Barron offered the following intervention at the Vatican during the 2018 Synod on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment. Jesus’ encounter with two erstwhile disciples on […]
Perspective
Sowing the wind and reaping the whirlwind:
A reflection on the Irish referendum I will confess that as a person of Irish heritage on both sides of my family, I found the events in Ireland last week […]