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.” […]
Columns Archive
Perspective
Summer at the lake
Chemists and economists speak of equilibrium conditions, where the concentrations of reactants and products, or supply and demand, are in balance. If you have a bottle of soda water with […]
The Sunday Gospel
‘Ask … seek … knock:’ The Lord waits to hear and answer
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Luke 11:1-13 Again, the Book of Genesis is the source of this weekend’s first reading. It is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. The story […]
The Sunday Gospel
Be open to receiving the Lord’s message, His power and His love
Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Luke 10:38-42 The Book of Genesis, unfortunately, bears the burden of being remembered, and usually misunderstood, only in terms of its Creation narratives. While the […]
Perspective
Securing authentic children’s rights
Children require extensive support and protection to meet their physical, emotional and spiritual needs. They are uniquely dependent on their parents because they are particularly vulnerable. Often they are unable […]
Perspective
The summer reading list
Continuing a venerable tradition, I offer the following for your canicular reading pleasure: John Hay spent decades at the center of American public life as Lincoln’s secretary and biographer, a […]
Perspective
How far is too far?
How far would you drive for Mass? I don’t know if anyone has ever done a study of such a pedestrian topic, but it is a question that will become […]
The Sunday Gospel
No one is beyond God’s love
Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Luke 10:25-37 The Book of Deuteronomy, the source of the first reading for this weekend, is one of the first five books of the Bible, […]
The Sunday Gospel
The Lord gives us the strength to be truly free
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Luke 10:1-12, 17-20 The first reading is from the third section of Isaiah. The three sections of this book, so favored over the years by […]
Perspective
‘God wants me to be happy’
A reflection on a deeply flawed moral stance One of the questionable, and unfortunately common, forms of moral reasoning today is the rather narcissistic notion that God wants each of us […]
Perspective
How to accept criticism: a spiritual exercise
More than 19 million people tuned in to watch the final episode of “Game of Thrones” May 19, making it the most viewed show to ever air on HBO. Yet […]
Perspective
A Year in the Eternal City
It’s hard to believe, but almost a year has passed since I last saw my beautiful homeland (the United States) and came to Europe. A lot has changed in that […]