This beautiful poem was first published by Cedar Fort in 2008. On Christmas Eve, a young boy with light in his eyes looked deep into Santa’s, to Santa’s surprise, and said as he sat on Santa’s broad knee, “I want your secret.  Tell it to me.”  He leaned up and whispered in Santa’s good ear, […]

Chiefs All-Star Tight End Travis Kelce is amazing in so many ways, he even teaches us how we can do—or be—two things at once.  As his imagination takes him to grilling while mowing, or working out while being interviewed, or ordering two diverse dinners at the same meal, his pedagogy reminds me of what religious […]

“Sometimes we are so busy adding up our troubles that we forget to count our blessings.” I don’t know where that quote originated but I’ve been thinking about it since Thanksgiving morning in the Church of the Little Flower where some of KC’s inner-city parishioners sat bundled in a late autumn chill because the parish’s […]

I live along the Old Santa Fe Trail, one of three major roadways originating nearly 200 years ago along the Missouri River heading west.  Recently a landscape crew dug up a horseshoe in my front yard that dated back to the era of wagon trains, frontiersmen, and pioneer families.  As one who values history, I […]

It is fitting that we inaugurate the holiday season at family tables.  Ancient Judaism, like many religions and cultures, valued the household meal as the center of vitality and faith.  There, table fellowship implied fellowship with God.  There, we are not only nourished physically but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually through conversation: reflection on blessings, chat […]

There are lots of opportunities to participate in Autumn Giving.  If you’d like, I can serve as a conduit for your generosity or, in holiday language, we can make elves of ourselves. Journey to New Life, a ministry that assists incarcerated people to reenter society, is receiving lightly used winter coats for adult men and […]

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 […]