It has been said: “Heroes are saintly people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done regardless of the consequences.”  In early March, the church celebrates the feast of Katharine Drexel, the first United States born citizen to be canonized.  A nineteenth century Philadelphia heiress, her mother died the week […]

When I was ordained over thirty-three years ago, I entered a covenant with the Catholic Church.  She graciously accepted me, with all my faults, as her ecclesial son; and I vowed to honor her and, with God’s grace, to do my best to serve others through her.  My favorite images of the church are those […]

There is so much to love about our Catholic faith, formed from our Judeo-Christian roots.  But as Fyodor Dostoevsky once wrote: “Love is a harsh and dreadful reality.”  Our tendency is to romanticize and commercialize love with sunshine, flowers, jewelry, boxes of chocolates, and scenic backdrops; but even Saint Valentine, who we honor with fancy […]

Recently I met a man who had, decades ago, received a college bachelor’s degree in literature and a woman who earned a master’s degree in fiction studies.  If I understood them correctly, the curricula were not so much about creative writing and composition as they were about simply discovering and enjoying good literary works.  To […]

It’s a little depressing in Chief’s Kingdom tonight.  The ole goat, Tom Brady, did what he does so often and does so well: proved himself the greatest of all time.  As football legends go, he is more legendary than Vince Lombardi, whose name is inscribed on the trophy he hoisted tonight for the seventh time.  […]

Theologian, Stanley Hauerwas, once stated: “The problem with Christianity is not that it’s socially conservative or politically liberal but that it’s just too damn dull.”  His statement speaks volumes to millions of Catholics who feel disconnected from their own church because it promotes a status quo that is out of touch with the struggles of […]

About eight years ago, during a period when I counseled several adult survivors of priest sexual abuse, I also served on a board for our diocesan Office of Child and Youth Protection.  We almost became an underground group because our bishop at the time was uninterested in dealing with issues that exposed church faults.  A […]

Harry Truman once said, “During election season, we behave somewhat as primitive people do during a full moon.”  Every four years around the time of a general election, I, like many other church leaders would love to disappear because people go crazy.  In addition, numerous churchgoers want priests to instruct Catholic voters how to cast […]

There is a chance I could be excommunicated.  I might not mind if I was.  “Excommunicate” means to “be out of communion with.”  There are things in which I am out of step with, in the church, and so it would probably serve me right.  Of course, it helps to remember that Jesus was excommunicated […]

“Sub” means under; “scribe” comes from the Latin (scribere), meaning to write.  To sign ourselves to a particular principle or write our name under a certain document reflects what we hold to be important.  Each of us subscribes to certain values, such as The American Way or to traditions of our family or Christian morality; […]