Black Lives Matter (BLM) began as a movement in 2013 by three female organizers concerned that societal systems, mores, and structures are biased against black citizens.  The movement gained viral social media status the following year after George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer characterized by many as racist, was acquitted for fatally shooting a black […]

About ten years ago, a parish in the Baltimore area, Church of the Nativity, led by their pastor and a pastoral associate, transformed their dying faith-community into one that is thriving and life-giving.  The two men, Father Michael White and Tom Corcoran, chronicled the story of revival in a book entitled: Rebuilt: Awakening the Faithful, […]

Blaise Pascal once said, “Men never do evil so completely and so cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction.”  Through history, we know it is probably true: sacrificing humans, waging wars, persecuting heretics, burning witches, terrorizing infidels.  We heard about it in the Crusades, Inquisition, and holy wars; we experienced it in […]

Throughout my life, like many of you, I have pondered the existence of an almighty deity.  As a little kid, I had conversations with God that convinced me not only of His universal power and glory but also of His personal connection to, and interest in, me.  These spiritual rendezvous were not earthshattering revelations but […]

Daniel Day-Lewis starred in a 1993 movie entitled “In the Name of the Father” about a young man who is sent by his dad to carry out a particular, seemingly impossible, task and is wrongfully accused of a crime.  To save his father from being murdered, he takes blame for the crime and is imprisoned, […]

Former actor and comedian, Volodymyr Zelensky, has the spotlight of the world stage shining upon him but in an incredibly serious role of life and death for millions of people as he also sets the course for future international relationships.  Born into a Jewish family in a primarily Christian country, he is, on many fronts, […]

Each year, around spring break, our church honors two of her most revered sons: Joseph and Patrick.  Italians claim Joseph, though he was Israeli, never setting foot in Italy, while the Irish claim Patrick, though he was not Irish; a prisoner there during his youth, he was sent back later to introduce and spread Christianity […]

One of the things I love most about the Catholic Church is her emphasis on charity and solidarity.  Each Lent, we are called to give alms, one of the three chief directives of this penitential season, along with prayer and fasting.  For decades, many Catholics have participated in the annual Rice Bowl activity by dropping […]

Those growing up in youth sports learn that there is no “I” in “team.”  We become part of something bigger because we have each other.  In baptism we become part of a community of faith, part of Christ’s team.  Catholics are taught that we don’t get to heaven on our own but get there with […]

A friend of mine ordered a T-shirt that states, on the front, “I’m fat but I identify as skinny.”  The back clarifies it: “I’m Trans-slender.”  I suppose similar claim could be made by the guy on a three-day drunk who identifies as sober while on a Trans-bender, or a college student who identifies as a […]