The Vatican is a long way from Kansas City.  But what is happening there impacts us here.  This semester, I have the privilege to work at two local Catholic universities, Rockhurst and Avila.  On the campuses, I witness tremendous diversity.  Students that are Muslim, Jewish, Catholic or of other Christian religions, move alongside those that […]

When Jesus introduced new ways of thinking about religion to His Jewish community, most of the church hierarchy of the time did not accept it or want anything to do with it.  When His followers began to reach out and engage non-Jews, it was too much for the old Jewish guard and they condemned the […]

In late October the American landscape gets shrouded with orange pumpkins, yellow marigolds, black witches, white ghosts, and an eerie, cold, windy, darkness that forecasts a change of seasons.  The church and society enter the ominous Dias de los Muertos (Days of the Dead).  On the first day, All Halo’s Eve, we acknowledge that every […]

The late American author and theologian, Frederick Buechner, once wrote: “To forgive somebody is to say one way or another, ‘You have done something so unspeakable, and by all rights I should call it quits between us. Both my pride and my principles demand no less.  However, although I make no guarantees that I will […]

On a recent trip to Italy, a Roman guide commented about their city’s many visitors from around the globe and, perhaps to appease me and my companions, spoke favorably of those from the United States saying, “I am always impressed with the candor by which Americans talk so openly and honestly without fear.”  He went […]

The third glorious mystery is the promise of Christ, the gift of love, the outpouring of God’s Spirit upon the earth.  Sixty years ago, participants of the Second Vatican Council prayed to the Holy Spirit for a new Pentecost: “We come before you, Holy Spirit, having gathered in your name.  Come to us, remain with […]

“May today there be peace within you.  May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.  May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.  May you use those gifts that you have received and pass on the love that has been given to you.  May you […]

Cardinal John Henry Newman once said, “In a higher realm it may be otherwise but here below to live is to change; and to be perfect is to change often.”  From the moment we burst into this existence we scream out with divine spiritual energy planted inside us and embark upon a world of physical […]

I met George O’Laughlin in the early 1990s when I was assigned to my first pastorate; it was in the inner city.  He was the first person I knew who was a member of two Catholic parishes at the same time: one in the suburban neighborhood where he lived and the other in the urban […]

In an interview with Mr. Alvin Brooks, namesake of the Alvin Brooks Center for Faith-Justice at Rockhurst University, I praised him for his leadership role and servanthood within the Catholic Church.  He clarified that he is “mostly Catholic.”  Over the years, he has shared his views about racism in the church, clericalism and mismanagement by […]