Perspective
When Reentry is Rocky
I recently returned from a beautiful pilgrimage to France, but unexpectedly brought home a stomach bug to my beloved family. Talk about a bumpy reentry to ordinary life: from Lourdes […]
Perspective Archive
Perspective
Taylor Swift, Miscarriage, and the Discussions We Too Rarely Have
In every life, there comes a moment where we find ourselves brought to our knees, a moment when we are immersed in something tragic and personally gutting, and our questions […]
Perspective
Triumph in Loving God
Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Luke 21:5-19 The Book of Malachi is the source of this weekend’s first reading. Malachi was not a proper name for a person in ancient Israel. Rather, […]
Perspective
Seeking the Spiritual Side of Dementia
The possibility of suffering from dementia later in life is a worrisome and unpleasant prospect for many of us. Most people I know would like to remain in possession of […]
Perspective
No Cell Phones, No Problems: Saluting the Digital Minimalists
It started with news from Camp Wapo, the Bible camp I’d attended as a kid. The camp counselors in Amery, Wisconsin, enforce a strict no cell-phone policy: Ditch your iPhone […]
A more human society
Why Not Love Them Both?
“Why not love them both?” has been a message of the pro-life movement for many years, expressing a commitment to both the unborn child and his or her mother who […]
Perspective
Life is Short, Afterlife is Forever
Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Luke 20:27-38 This weekend, observed as the Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Church presents as the first reading a section from the Second Book […]
Perspective
Watching ‘The Crown’
What would it be like to watch your life play out on the small screen, episode after episode? It’s something I’ve been thinking about while watching Season 4 of “The […]
Perspective
Of a Lesser-Known Gospel Story that is Pretty “Cool”
Recently I was talking to a group of young adult Catholics and mentioned a gospel passage that they said they had never heard. It is the Gospel of the temple […]
Perspective
Let Us Double Our Seminarians!
It was fully my intention to have all of the Winona-Rochester seminarians stand at one point during my installation Mass homily. I had told the people that, in the words of St. […]
Perspective
God’s Gifts Guide Us to Heaven
Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time Luke 19:1-10 The Book of Wisdom provides this weekend’s first reading. As the natural environment has absorbed more and more public interest, the pope and […]
Perspective
Joyful Saints
To an extrovert like myself, being part of a joyful crowd is a foretaste of heaven. A crowd of happy people generates even more laughter and joy, much like a […]