Outgoing United States Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell was recently asked if he had any advice for his successor. He responded, “Don’t get pulled into the politics.” Regardless of one’s job or position in life, it is easy to get sucked into politics. It happens in church, school, health care, law firms, union jobs, family […]
The greatest happiness a person can experience, I think, is feeling close to God. It can also be overwhelming. Perhaps your concept of God is the one power that overcomes all other powers—or a love more powerful than either life or death. Maybe your sense of the unknowable entity that we call God is relief […]
This week, after two years and 107 episodes, I suspended weekly podcast recordings of Upon this Rock. The final chapter, which you can listen to here summarizes what I and the FSC (Farnan Spirituality Center) Board hoped to accomplish by joining the webcast market. There are many “godcasts” in the web world, an existence that […]
Just as our church has annual holy days to honor noble saints so does our nation have annual holidays to honor noble citizens. As we approach Martin Luther King Day (January 19), we’ll be reminded that it is not supposed to be a day off but a day on; some think of it not as […]
Each year, Catholics commemorate aspects of the early life of Jesus on various feasts during the Twelve Days of Christmas. Included therein is the Gospel story of His family’s flight into Egypt as immigrants who sought asylum from terror in their home country. In modern America, as well as many places around the globe, we […]
Advent means the Coming or Arrival. Each year Christians join in a four-week, end of calendar, spiritual journey. But it is a little difficult for us to comprehend exactly what is coming, whether it comes now, or only at the journey’s end. I’ll start with the coming of light that dispels the darkness of suffering […]
This thanksgiving weekend marked a milestone in the life of Saint Therese Little Flower Parish in Kansas City: our one hundredth anniversary. The rock band, Five for Fighting, in their turn-of-the-century hit song, 100 Years, sang “I’m ninety-nine for a moment and dying for just one more moment, but I’m moving on and counting the […]
Nathan Soderblom once stated, “Saints are people who make it a little bit easier for the rest of us to be good.” They are light bearers, they are trail angels, they are people with rough edges like everyone else but who have somehow remained focused on God and our destiny toward a better existence. Or […]
A sanctuary is a protected place where birds, animals, or people can gather to find refuge and safety from dangerous conditions. It’s original meaning has biblical roots and refers to an enshrined haven or holy place set apart because God’s presence is made manifest there. The portable tent used by Jewish ancestors while wandering in […]
In 1920’s Mexico, under President Plutarco Calles, clergy were restricted from public religious practices, religious education was outlawed, and many Catholics were persecuted, imprisoned, or executed for their faith. These anti-Catholic measures or “Calles Laws” continued for many decades. I hope that if I lived in Mexico at that time, I would have participated in […]
UPON THIS ROCK 