Perspective
The hand-me-down: a love letter that endures
There are echoes of Romeo and Juliet, but the ending is happier. This story of forbidden love took place long ago on a Mediterranean island – 1870s Sicily, to be […]
Perspective
Learning from Horton — Say what you mean, mean what you say
Dr. Seuss’ fourth book was published in 1940 and met with critical acclaim. It features an elephant whose large ears and long trunk provided the ideal infrastructure for the artist’s […]
Perspective
When an obituary becomes a prayer
I’ve never had to write an obituary. I realize how fortunate that makes me. As a professional writer, I’ve imagined what it would be like to write one. Perhaps that’s […]
Perspective
The faith of Violet Jessop
When Violet Jessop set out to be a maritime stewardess, she wasn’t driven by some starry-eyed desire to see the world. She was moved by necessity. Her Irish father, a […]
Perspective
Of mice and men: a saint for our times
“Synchronicity.” That’s the word one journalist used in a Nov. 3 Instagram post to describe the fact that Election Day fell on the feast day of St. Martin de Porres, […]
Perspective
Hospitality at 6 feet: keeping our distance while letting others in
“Can you come in?” My grandma’s favorite question is one we now discourage her from uttering. The impulse to swing open her door and her arms, honed over nine decades […]
Perspective
Our balm for 2020: the communion of saints
Paula Kraus wasn’t afraid to utter the wish burning on her heart, the one that seizes so many preparing to lose a loved one. The Minnesota mom yearned for some […]
Perspective
Theology of home: an invitation to reclaim what matters most
The color-coded books caught my eye. It’s become one of my favorite flourishes in interior design, one that always stops me in my Instagram scrolling. And here it was, on […]
Perspective
How to intimately learn Catholicism
Fifteen years after Richard Louv’s bestseller “The Last Child in the Woods” was published, it is more relevant than ever. I’m fascinated by his insights on the “nature-deficit disorder” ailing […]
Perspective
Learning how to saunter: the gifts of quarantine
Tonight, I wrote two events on my calendar: a birthday party and a baptism. They will be sanitized, scaled-down gatherings — and they will be fun — but still, it […]
Perspective
Catholic beats coronavirus at age 99, inspiring legions
The nurses kept using the same phrase. The doctors used it, too. Rock star. Anne Giardino, the 99-year-old on the 15th floor, was a rock star among the many COVID-19 patients […]
Perspective
‘Keep that hope machine running strong’
It started with the Italians, whose arias rose from the balconies. They were on lockdown, but their voices rang out down empty moonlit streets. Ballads, the national anthem, improvised ditties […]