… if you want to thank a veteran, if you want to support the troops, work for peace! “Violence and arms can never resolve the problems of man.” – Pope John Paul II Read more
… if you want to thank a veteran, if you want to support the troops, work for peace! “Violence and arms can never resolve the problems of man.” – Pope John Paul II Read more
Wally Street is your brother-in-law. Your sister fell for his infectious charm and his unbeatable sense of style. Wally was always the life and soul of the party. Everybody wanted to be his friend. Women were attracted to him. You suspected he was cheating on your sister, but you could never really prove it. Your always thought there was something dubious, something not quite right, with Wally. But he was always courteous and generous with you. And your sister seemed... Read more
I think these survey results are quite interesting: A few observations: (1) Big picture: 60 percent want a more equal distribution of wealth. A nation of closet socialists! (2) Religion: Catholics generally support greater equality, which tells me that Catholic social teaching is sifting through! Not surprising, Protestants are less supportive – except for black Protestants, who support it strongly – but even here, a slim majority favors less inequality. I find it interesting that white evangelicals are about 20 percentage points more... Read more
It’s an interesting spectacle. On one hand, so many American right-wing Catholics set themselves up as mini-magisteriums, defending the orthodox faith against the dark army of dissenters. But on the other hand, and with equal passion, they will attack, mock, and dismiss Church teachings they don’t personally like. We saw this very clearly with the snide dismissal of recent Vatican proposals for financial reform. (more…) Read more
Theological studies are neither possible nor necessary for everyone; the study of philosophy is not accessible to everyone. Constant and special exercise in that inner attention that cleanses and gathers the mind towards its higher unity is also not possible for everyone. It is possible and necessary, however, for everyone to bind the direction of their life with their fundamental conviction of faith, to harmonize with it their main occupation and every particular matter, in order that every action might... Read more
Since the eruption of the Occupy Wall Street protests in mid-September, many have tried to limn the similarities and contrasts between OWS and the Tea Party movement, which first appeared on the American political scene in 2009. Some, like President Obama, strain to draw a parallel between the two. Speaking about OWS, Obama said, “I understand the frustrations being expressed in those protests. In some ways, they’re not that different from some of the protests that we saw coming from the Tea Party.”... Read more
I have been pondering the Golden Rule lately. It seems like such a simple little ditty, “Do to Others as You Wish Others Would Do to You.” I don’t know about you, but I find the reality of it is quite difficult. But I have found that if we take that one step further, “Think of Others As You Would Want Them to Think of You” to be in the spirit and the same difficulty. What would this world look... Read more
Introduction and Part II “Through the love of God our Creator, there are many ways that bring men to salvation, converting their souls and leading them up to heaven. For men’s souls are rewarded for virtue and punished for sin.”[1] (more…) Read more
For my business trip this week I grabbed copy of the classic Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire. I have heard of this book, and seen various educational proposals that were purportedly based on it, but up to this point I had only read various quotations and summaries. I got interested in it again as my formation for the deaconate has gotten my thinking again about pedagogy for adult education. I was drawn by his idea that when teaching... Read more
And so the rain returns again Washing clean the sins of streets Splashing granite curbs, and drains To singing streams and then to greet The love of Mother Ocean. Read more
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