I love the Catholic Church and am blessed to have been shaped by it. It has anchored my life and kept me oriented toward the good. It has educated me, inspired me, employed me, ordained me, and helped me through difficult times. Like many other things that I love—my family, my country, my home—I always […]
October begins with the Feast of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus (aka The Little Flower or Therese of Lisieux). The middle day of the month is dedicated to Saint Teresa of Jesus (aka Teresa of Avila). I have the privilege of serving as priest for Saint Therese Little Flower (STLF) Parish in urban KC […]
The Greek word “metanoia” is sometimes used in church jargon. It means an about-face or one-eighty-degree change—a total turn-around conversion. This week in Kansas City many sports fans marveled over how our major league baseball team fared last year with a 56-106 record (tied for worst in their history) compared to where they ended up […]
“This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it, or I can use it for good. What I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it. When tomorrow comes this day will be gone […]
When nineteenth century French scholar Pierre-Simon Laplace was asked by Napolean how God fit into academic equations, he famously responded, “I have no need of that hypothesis.” Though he was quick to admit that what humans know about our existence is extremely limited and what we don’t know about it is immense, many have used […]
Structures exist in most societies because people usually benefit from parameters that contain us and systems to guide us. That is the general rule; but exceptions accompany most rules. Whether our nation’s political structure or our church’s ecclesial institution or our society’s justice system, there are corruptible flaws that harm citizens and communities; and there […]
Americans love our annual Independence Day break in the first week of July as we stretch the national holiday through its closest weekend getting as many hours out of it as is permitted. Whereas our nation’s oldest holiday, Thanksgiving, is a day of dependence—upon God, blessings of nature, hard work, camaraderie, and generosity of others—this […]
Freedom of Speech, as spelled out in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, protects the right of individuals or communities to openly articulate opinions and ideas without interference, retaliation, or punishment from the government. We see that freedom expressed on college campuses and across the American landscape, especially as spring turns to summer. […]
“You say we’ve got nothing in common, no common ground to start from, and that we’re falling apart…And I said, ‘What about Breakfast at Tiffany’s?’ And she said, ‘I think I remember that film, and as I recall, we both kinda liked it.’ And I said, ‘Well, that’s one thing we’ve got’.” Those lyrics from […]
A year ago, working with a wonderful team at Rockhurst, we activated a podcast with the same title as my blog: “Upon This Rock.” We began by interviewing Alvin Brooks, for whom the future Alvin Brooks Center for Faith-Justice is named; his life and inspiring words encourage us to lay rock-solid foundations in our society […]
