I have been in a somber mood for the last few days, ever since the unexpected death of a longtime colleague and friend from the college. Hugh Lena was the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Providence College for the last fifteen years of his forty-five year career, first hired as an assistant professor of sociology in 1974. By the time I joined the faculty in 1994, Hugh was a major player in all aspects of the... Read more
I am not overstating the case when I say that I was raised on original sin. I wrote about this in a post a few days ago, but it is worth mentioning again, simply because I feel now, in my 68th year, that the grip of this pernicious doctrine has largely lost its power over me. There are many reasons for this positive development, not the least being that I have learned the power of unconditional love from a few people... Read more
Anne Lamott tells the story of an older woman who, along with other active geriatric members of her adult living community, was advised by the leader of a weekly therapy group to begin and end each day with a specific prayer or meditation—sort of like morning and evening prayer. Before long, the old woman and other members of the group shortened the meditation to “Whatever” at the beginning of the day and “Oh well” at the end. “Whatever” and “Oh... Read more
The Feast of the Epiphany is January 6. Let’s consider the heart of this unique liturgical season that marks the “coming out party” of Jesus. Here’s what I wrote for the day of Epiphany in my forthcoming book A Year of Faith and Philosophy. The gospel reading in all three years for Epiphany is the familiar story from Matthew 2 where wise men from the East, following a star, end up at the house where Jesus, Mary, and Joseph live.... Read more
Is it ever right to hold a grudge? Is resentment or unforgiveness ever justified? These questions were front and center in a seminar with a bunch of freshmen not long ago; their answers revealed one of the most important and ubiquitous moral divides of all—the divide between what we think we should believe and what we actually believe. And behind the discussion loomed an even larger moral issue: Where does a person’s moral compass come from, and is there any way... Read more
Iin his end-of-the-year op-ed in the Washington Post at the end of 2021 Michael Gerson wrote that The right sees a country in cultural decline, stripped of its identity and values. The left fears we are moving toward a new American authoritarianism. Both are ideologies of prophesied loss. In a society, such resentments easily become septic. So many otherwise irenic people seem captured by the politics of the clenched fist. A portion seem to genuinely wish some of their neighbors... Read more
The gospel reading in all three liturgical years for the First Sunday after Christmas is the familiar opening verses of John’s gospel. These verses provide a beautifully poetic introduction to the greatest story ever told. Because the language is poetic rather than discursive, in these verses the author of John has provided two millennia of theologians and persons of faith with more to write, talk, pontificate, preach, argue, and be confused about than could possibly be exhausted in future millennia.... Read more
Tomorrow is the Feast of the Holy Innocents on the liturgical calendar, the day that commemorates King Herod’s ordering the slaughter of the male children under two years old in Bethlehem in an attempt to eliminate the newborn Messiah who was rumored to have been born there. I have written about this gruesome part of the New Testament narrative before, focusing on the text from the haunting medieval “Coventry Carol”: Herod the king, in his raging, Charged he hath this... Read more
Christmas movies are a big deal at my house. Jeanne goes for the classics, such as “Miracle on 34th Street,” “The Bishop’s Wife,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and (her favorite) “White Christmas.” Those are all fine (except “White Christmas,” which I can take or leave), but I tend to favor more recent ones, like “The Holiday,” ” Love Actually,” and (my favorite) “The Nativity Story.” Movies with Biblical themes were both attractive and problematic in my early years. We did... Read more
Three years ago I had the privilege of giving the Advent 4 sermon at Trinity Church in Pawtuxet RI. Here’s what I said. Many of you folks in the pews today are old enough to understand what I mean when I say that I grew up with the Beatles. They were an important part of the soundtrack of my youth. Now, “Alexa, play the Beatles!” is my most common command if I’m looking for music when home alone while reading,... Read more
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