Continuing the subject of the importance of living the truth in love, my friend The Hermit brought to my attention a blog post by Fr Seamus Griesbach, a young parish priest of the Diocese of Portland, Maine. Fr Seamus reflects in this post on the Church and the world that he and his cohort--those he refers to as the JPII Generation--have inherited. Like many of peers, Fr Seamus finds that inheritance nothing to write home about, and--also like many of his peers--he blames my generation for … [Read more...]

Love--as the root and ground of our public discourse, as the only answer to the tyranny of hate--seems to be everywhere this week. I asked if we as a Church could, should dare to love those who disagree with us so genuinely and visibly that we might stop getting in the way of the message we too often speak with pursed lips and arms folded defensively across our hearts. And all around me others are answering, Yes, of course we can, we should. What else is there?Cardinal Dolan, who doesn't know … [Read more...]

If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)I've heard these words from today's second reading four times now this weekend, and I'll hear them again in another couple of hours. I'm visiting parishes throughout the deanery to track how well we're doing rolling out the 2012 archdiocesan appeal, and it means hearing the Liturgy of the Word repeated enough times to hammer through the thickest of heads, like mine.Paul was being rhetorical, but this weekend, in the United States, his … [Read more...]