Columns
The Grandparent Shortage
There’s been a lot written about falling birth rates in the United States. Less covered has been the simultaneous decline in grandparenthood. Grandparents, to hear friends tell it, are an […]
Columns Archive
Columns
The Transformative Power of Our Participation at Mass
On the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, we will pray this wonderful Prayer over the Offerings: “Grant us, O Lord, we pray, that we may participate worthily in these mysteries, […]
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We Are Sinners, and Only in Christ Can We Be Cleansed
As winter begins each year, the Church presents three great feasts to celebrate our salvation in Jesus but also to teach us the meaning of salvation in Jesus. Christmas was […]
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Kneeling in the Pigpen: True Connection in the Age of Efficiency
We live in an age that prizes efficiency above almost everything else. Tap your phone and a car arrives. Click a button and groceries appear. Swipe right and … well, […]
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The Holy Purpose of Conflict
I have a family member who doesn’t obey the laws of the jungle, specifically the law that counsels never to corner an animal. In conflict with her, word by word, […]
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Pope Leo’s Call for Peace
Pope Leo XIV’s new message for the January 1 World Day of Peace, released on December 18, offers a great deal of food for thought. Building on the theme of […]
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Like the Magi, All Are Called to Seek the Lord and Pay Homage to Him
This weekend, the Church invites us to celebrate the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, one of the most revered feasts in the Christian calendar. Clear and distinct in […]
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Stovetop Spirituality
The older I get, the more I crave a practical spirituality – one tied to dirty dishes not pristine libraries, one that recognizes hungry bellies along with hungry hearts. Some […]
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Feasting for the Glory of God
Santa Claus was very good to me this Christmas. Or at least my Secret Santa, acting on behalf of the good St. Nicholas, was very generous. I received a stack […]
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Christmas: A Birth and a Wedding
On this feast of the Nativity, we celebrate a birth and a wedding at the very same time. The birth is something everyone on earth today knows about. Yet long […]
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God Makes Each of Us Beloved Through His Son’s Birth and Death
This weekend the Church celebrates the fourth and last Sunday of Advent 2025. For its first reading, this weekend’s liturgy offers a reading from the first section of the Book […]
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Joy and Danger
The question at Christmas is not about whether God will act for us. The babe born of Mary is the answer: God has given everything. The question is really about us. Will […]