Many years ago, there was a young man who started attending daily Mass while I was on summer break and able to go to Mass every day. Because he was a stranger, I started to watch him during the liturgy. It was clear that he was a new convert—very devout, reverent, and he often sat in [...]
We have finally arrived, after two thousand years, at a truly sinless generation, one that is authorized by its own purity and perfection to throw as many stones as we like, at whatever object we like. Statues of saints, heroes, and even Christ himself, are toppled, broken, destroyed. No more need for churches—they can brought down [...]
Not too long ago, a friend made a remark to me, the implication of which I knew to be judgmental. Unlike me, my friend is very active in volunteering. He admires others who are also active and does not admire those who are not. That’s his standard. It’s a standard he applies to himself, but it’s [...]
I have a neighbor and friend who brings me groceries during this pandemic. Today she squeezed in a grocery run between other errands, and we had a conversation when I picked up the groceries. She had to pick up grandchildren earlier, and I mentioned that she’s always having birthday parties, or celebrations of various occasions; she’s [...]
A friend sent me a C.S. Lewis quote the other day and it brought that venerable gentleman to mind. When I was first converted, I simply couldn’t get enough of this man, who was probably one of the greatest Christian apologists of the twentieth century. Possibly the greatest. That was quite a long time ago, when [...]
We used to have a priest in our parish who habitually responded to any parishioner’s troubles or joys with the question: “Where is God in all this?” The effect of the question was an immediately altered perspective. It vaporized subjectivity, and from that changed vantage point, it called for an answer to the question itself. Some [...]
While this is not a popular subject, it may be an appropriate one for the season of sobriety. Not long ago, I made a will, an advance directive, a medical power of attorney, and a financial power of attorney. Since I have no family, I asked a deacon and trusted friend to be in charge of [...]
The story of Martha and Mary in the Gospels has often been a means of self-identifying among Christians, not just for women but for men as well. The common wisdom is that we are all both Mary and Martha, but many of us know very well which of the two sisters we most resemble. I spent [...]
Every woman is a mother. It is not necessary to give birth to be a mother, nor is it necessary to adopt or foster children to be a mother. If you’re born female, you’re born a mother, and you’re going to mother someone or something. You have no choice in the matter—It’s like breathing. There are [...]
I’ve had at least one dog ever since the seventies, often as many as three but usually two. Because I did rescue, several of them did not have an especially long lifespan. I got them when they were sick or maimed, blind, deaf, or old, something that made them undesirable to others. There are eight graves [...]
