At the risk of getting myself in trouble with readers, I am going to say it: I struggle to believe in God. I call myself a Christian. I attend Mass and recite the Creed. I read Christian books and write for Christian publications. And yet, on a day-to-day basis, I find it difficult to pray. I rarely feel the presence of a divine being unheard and unseen. When someone asks me to pray for them, I do. But I often... Read more
On September 11, 2001, I woke up in my college dorm in the New York City suburb of Yonkers. I’d gone through orientation and now was starting my first week of classes. I can’t remember if my two roommates were in the room with me or not – I vaguely remember being alone in the room but cannot be sure. Suddenly, the phone (a landline) rang. “A plane just hit the World Trade Center!” my mother was screaming frantically. “There... Read more
Hi everyone. I am asking for some input. I am writing a book about the liberal/conservative divide in US politics through the lens of the Catholic Church. I was first inspired to do this after the 2020 US Presidential Election, when a mentor commented offhandedly to me that “someone should make a documentary about US families who aren’t on speaking terms due to politics.” I decided to run with his idea, and I wrote an article for the National Catholic... Read more
My words today are a deep lament, as well as a cry for justice and mercy. Yesterday I picked up a copy of my hometown newspaper and saw a headline I’d never imagined I’d read: Bishop Edward Grosz, Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Buffalo, NY, USA, is the latest in the string of more than 150 priests to be accused of sexual abuse of a minor in the diocese. He is also the highest ranking. To top it all,... Read more
Just a note to our readers to let you know that the most recent royalty check from Patheos has been donated to the Catholic Near East Welfare Association to support their relief work in Ethiopia. Read more
A couple weeks ago, my fellow blogger, Brett Salkeld, gave an interesting talk to a group of Catholic school teachers entitled There is no Neutral for Catholics. There is a lot going on here and I strongly recommend reading it. I am not in agreement with some of what he says, but Brett is a thoughtful theologian so he is worth engaging with. And in particular, I am very interested in his project. In this brief blog post, however, I... Read more
My Mom’s life began in a farmhouse far out on the edge of the tiny town of Arroyo Grande, California, the youngest of 5 children. Her earliest memories were formed in the crucible of the Great Depression. That event, and the ensuing deprivation and rationing of the Second World War, left in her an abiding frugality that was a commonplace of so many in her generation. Mom was a saver; she saved money, cooking implements, pretty much anything that might... Read more
I’ve sometimes had the thought that I could measure my adult life in Maundy Thursdays. In my introspective inner life, the Paschal Triduum – and, for reasons that remain somewhat mysterious to me, Maundy Thursday in particular – has emerged as a series of mile markers on a spiritual journey. Of course, this year and last, these markers have been harder to detect and sadly unremarkable, for the obvious reason – not so much akin to traveling through a desert,... Read more
Saints and Social Justice: A Guide to Changing the World, Brandon Vogt, Our Sunday Visitor Press, Huntington, 2014. I came across this book when my parish selected it to be used by reading groups during Lent this year. As part of our Martin de Porres project on racism and the Catholic Church, we wanted a book that provided a broader discussion of Catholic social teaching which we could combine with a reading of the USCCB pastoral on racism in America,... Read more
This blog post is my second one on Octogesima Adveniens, the last CST document from Paul VI. You can read Part I here. We finished the document at this discussion, though we did get distracted initially. In the break between meetings of our reading group, I stumbled on an article (PDF) by Sr. Mary Elsbernd, OSF (a fellow Franciscan), on paragraph 4 of Octogesima Adveniens. It would seem that this paragraph, which I had passed over in my first reading... Read more
