Columns Archive

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The Human Condition

Counting ‘The Twelve’

Jesus had numerous disciples; some of them known to us, most of them lost to history but not to the mind of God. From among those disciples (literally, “learners,” or […]

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Perspective

Evangelization by hitchhiking: How to find an on-ramp

The place infants nod off and teens open up is also where road-weary adults will probe their spirituality: in the car. That’s the secret behind a new religious community, the […]

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Columns

Although evil exists, the Lord is almighty and victorious

Palm Sunday Matt 26:14-27:66 This weekend observes Palm Sunday, recalling with great reverence the Lord’s traditional entry into Jerusalem and beginning the drama and depth of Holy Week. The liturgy […]

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Perspective

‘The Look’: men, sin and mission?

A kid can live and die by the look on his mom’s face! Her smile can light up his day, while her disappointment or anger can be a dark cloud. […]

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Bishop's Column: In Truth and Charity

The beauty and the power of the Chrism Mass

The Chrism Mass is one of the most joyful and intense liturgies of the year, in my experience as a bishop. It evokes the joy I feel when celebrating Masses […]

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Perspective

Recalling the apostles’ Good Friday weakness

Tenebrae, meaning shadows or darkness in Latin, is a Holy Week service that uses the simplicity of mostly darkness and some candlelight, along with psalms, prayers and music to reflect […]

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Bishop's Column: In Truth and Charity

Remembering Cardinal William Keeler

While in Baltimore last Thursday for a meeting of the Catholic Relief Services Board of Directors, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore called to inform me of the death of his […]

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Columns

Jesus is our resurrection and our life

Fifth Sunday of Lent John 11:1-45 The Book of Ezekiel provides the first reading for this weekend. Even a quick reading of the history of ancient Israel shows that there […]

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Perspective

Beautiful strength

Mariana is a beautiful woman in her sixties, a former professional ballerina trained in the Russian classical style. She performed as a principal dancer in the Israeli Ballet and is […]

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Perspective

Medically based talk on the Shroud of Turin and crucifixion

What did Christ really go through, in the last day of His earthly life? Dr. Thomas McGovern, a Fort Wayne physician, opened “The Passion Through the Shroud of Turin” talk […]

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Bishop's Column: In Truth and Charity

The Journey of Faith of the Man Born Blind

Do you believe in the Son of Man? That question of Jesus to the blind man whom He had cured is the climax of the Gospel we will hear this […]

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Columns

Why it matters who Jesus is

I have been reading, with both profit and delight, Thomas Joseph White’s latest book, “The Incarnate Lord: A Thomistic Study in Christology.” Father White, one of the brightest of a new […]