The love between them was obvious during the wedding yesterday. And particularly later, at the wedding reception. She, radiant and elegant. He, dapper in his tux. Few words were actually spoken between them. But there was a lot of hand-holding, much pressing of flesh. A bonding that had so completely merged into one that there was but a single movement between them when they walked. I was taken back by the tenderness and affection. And by the familiarity, the complete oneness. But no, I wasn’t... Read more

Pope Francis’ historic address today before the United States Congress raised up four Americans as inspirations and models of hope, service, and prayer. The choices of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr. certainly came as no surprise. But, as this Time article points out, his other choices, Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day, were names probably not very familiar to most of us. Readers of my blog already know of my affection for Thomas Merton (see here, here, and especially here and here),... Read more

It’s on! You can follow Pope Francis’ visit to the United States, starting today, by visiting Pope Francis Visit 2015, a site sponsored by CatholicToTheMax.com. For those of us in New York City, columnist and blogger Tom McDonald has an excellent post at the National Catholic Register, in which are included some terrific observations by Deacon Greg Kandra, of The Deacon’s Bench Patheos blog. Some of my own brief observations are also included. Also follow Tom’s coverage of the WMOF at his blog,... Read more

  In September 2013, The New Yorker magazine published excerpts on-line from Flannery O’Connor’s prayer journal, entitled My Dear God, A Young Writer’s Prayers. Here is how The New Yorker described these journal entries at that time: In January, 1946, while studying at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Flannery O’Connor began keeping a journal in a ruled Sterling notebook. O’Connor, who had left her home in Milledgeville, Georgia, for Iowa, turned twenty-one in March and had her first short story, “The... Read more

Peter Kreeft, Professor of Philosophy at Boston College, has quite a knack for taking complex subjects and making them thoroughly accessible to the rest of us. Originally a Calvinist, Kreeft became Catholic after being asked by a professor to investigate the Church’s claims that it could directly trace its origins to the one founded 2,000 years ago. But Kreeft himself has acknowledged a fascination with the Catholic Church from an earlier age: What initially attracted me to the Catholic Church was,... Read more

Some events during our lifetime remain frozen in time. Some leave scars that never quite heal. The sights, the sounds, the emotions, the smells, never leave us. Although not quite 5 years old, I still vividly recall November 22, 1963. And folks of my mom and dad’s age have often told me that December 7, 1941 was forever seared into their memories. So too, for this generation, is 9/11/01. We were forever changed. Some say that America’s innocence was lost on that... Read more

A contemplation for today, from Hans Urs von Balthasar: After a mother has smiled at her child for many days and weeks, she finally receives her child’s smile in response. She has awakened love in the heart of her child, and as the child awakens to love, it also awakens to knowledge: the initially empty-sense impressions gather meaningfully around the core of the Thou. Knowledge (with its whole complex of intuition and concept) comes into play, because the play of love... Read more

At times, joy may seem so very elusive. At times, we might not even know what joy is, or how to find it. But we have to understand that joy is more than a feeling. It’s more than a simple, fleeting emotion. It comes from within. It comes from who we are. It comes from who we have become. And it radiates outward because of whose we are. While surely there are many others, here are a few brief thoughts on joy spoken by Benedict,... Read more