At the end 1877, the young Scottish poet, Rabbie Burns, found himself with mates and muckers at a pub where he embellished ancestral ballads passed down by older muckers who recalled times that evaporated into history.  Whether sober recollections of old and spirited souls or from the drunk tank of their harking back, he penned […]

Returning to racially integrated communities in Kansas City’s urban core this year, I also attempt to return to cultural rituals and inspiring traditions different from those around which I grew up.  One that gets hidden amidst Christmas, Hanukkah, Saturnalia, New Year’s, and other festivities of the winter solstice is the African American festival of Kwanzaa.  […]

In late September of 1978 when the Archbishop of Krakow was chosen as the first non-Italian pope in nearly 500 years, the future Saint John Paul II stepped onto the world stage with the words: “Be not afraid.”  His prophetic message echoed that of sacred scripture as the young bishop reigned over the universal Catholic […]

In Bethlehem, pilgrims enter the Church of the Nativity through the Door of Humility.  It is structured so that only children and short people can enter standing up.  Adults must become diminutive by crouching down or bowing so they can pass through to the site where Jesus was born.  The door of humility reminds us […]

The etymology of “conversion” and “conversation” are similar.  From Latin roots, “con” means with or together; “ver” or “vertere” is a reference to turning or changing; “sion” or “sation” implies an action.  Converting or conversing, then, is an act of turning in a different direction because of engagement with another or others.  “Ver” or “verit” […]

Father Tom Curran, SJ, former president of Rockhurst University, often spoke to students about having one foot on campus and one foot out in the community.  He wanted them to realize that the main purpose of their education is not just to secure a livelihood but to also enhance the livelihood of their surroundings.  He […]

“Advent” comes from the Latin word adventus which means The Coming.  Liturgical, societal, and religious themes of the Advent season warn us to stay awake, be alert, get ready, and prepare a way.  The societal impact is probably most influential upon us: only twenty-three shopping days till Christmas!  We’ve got to stay awake for Black […]

One of the many terms for Holy Eucharist is the Latin “viaticum.”   It means food or provision for the journey and gets used primarily to refer to our final communion that gives sustenance for the road to paradise and path to glory where there awaits a heavenly banquet feast for God’s children who are welcomed […]

As little school children put on the silver belt buckled black hats of Pilgrims or colorful feathered head gear of Native Americans to sit in circles with paper turkeys traced from their handprint and to share candied corn, they retell the Thanksgiving story of 1621.  While they do, the rest of us might benefit from […]

When Giovanni Bernadone (who we know as Francis of Assisi) rejected his father’s business to live among the poor in the thirteenth century, he walked the hills of his homeland, wandering into the little rundown church of San Damiano.  There he knelt before a large wooden icon crucifix and locked his eyes on those of […]