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 Archive
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 […]
Perspective
Wisdom of Night Prayer
“Lord, now let your servant go in peace; your word has been fulfilled.” Thus begins the Canticle of Simeon, the prayer drawn from the words of the prophet who held […]
Perspective
An Imaginative Awakening
One reason to travel, either literally or through reading, is to break out of the everyday habits of the mind that prevent us from seeing the world in a different […]
Perspective
Show Humility Before God’s Greatness
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Luke 18:9-14 The Book of Sirach, one of those books classified by scholars collectively as the Wisdom literature, provides this weekend’s first Scriptural reading. The […]
Perspective
Counseling the Counselors: Providing More Support to Our Priests
Is there still a stigma around mental illness? Is it more pronounced among priests? The answer to those questions became resoundingly clear last summer when Paul Ruff addressed a gathering […]
Perspective
What the ‘Wedding Foot Washing’ Gets Right About Marriage and Faith
I don’t think I’ll ever forget the photograph of the group of little kids. They were gathered on the edge of the dance floor — five of them — sitting in […]
Perspective
The 60th Anniversary of Vatican II
I am composing these words on October 11, 2022, which is the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, easily the most momentous ecclesial event of the 20th century. […]
Perspective
God Knocks, We Must Answer
Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time Luke 18:1-8 The Book of Exodus is the source of this weekend’s first reading. As might be assumed from the book’s name, Exodus is a […]
Perspective
‘Not All Who Wander Are Lost’
Episode 5 of Amazon’s new series, “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” opens with a haunting melody composed for the show. “This Wandering Day,” sung by Poppy […]