I ran across this years ago, but it never fails to delight me. I think JPII– who was an actor, poet, and college chaplain–would have appreciated it, too. Read more

In honor of the canonization of Pope John Paul II, I am posting an article I wrote over a decade ago, after attending World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto. I will forever be grateful to have been in the presence of this extraordinary man, who inspired me, and whose words still hold me up and point me towards Christ. He was, as he was to so many of my generation, my spiritual Papa.  Not just another personality cult It was... Read more

I was looking for this post yesterday. Here is the post where I explain, briefly, the ethical principle I do my best to live by: “In any conflict between the rights or needs of two persons, the strong should give way to the weak (given proportionality), in order to maintain the possibility of the greatest possible preservation of goods.  If the stronger individual gives way, they have the resources to potentially recover from any injury. If the weaker individual is... Read more

There’s a lot roiling in my brain tonight, and I won’t be able to sit down and try to sort them out at any length until tomorrow. Here’s a sampler of the sorts of things I’ve discussed today and want to flesh out further: 1. Whether it’s possible to be a Catholic Feminist, and what that means, anyhow. 2. What the view is like from inside an ADHD brain, and how my own experiences have informed the way I parent... Read more

Good Shepherds are willing to lay down their lives for their sheep.   As spiritual leaders walking in the footsteps of Jesus, we are called to lay down our lives for our people.  This laying down might in special circumstances mean dying for others.  But it means first of all making our own lives – our sorrows and joys, our despair and hope, our loneliness and experience of intimacy – available to others as sources of new life. One of the... Read more

1. It’s been a long winter, and it is finally over! The sun is shining, there are robins everywhere, and we’ve put away out winter boots and coats and broken out sneakers and rainboots. I love spring, and the delay only makes it extra-sweet. 2. It’s not only the weather which has made this a difficult winter. A month ago, my four year old nephew Sammy was diagnosed with leukemia.  My brother in law suffers from a depressive disorder and they... Read more

A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a book called An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth, by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. I’m not sure what kind of advice I expected to read from this former commander of the International Space Station, someone who did countless interviews from space (including being interviewed by William Shatner) and whose space-earth duets and extraterrestrial performance of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” received millions of views on YouTube. There are traits you expect in... Read more