From his earliest preaching days until the conclusion of his life, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) believed that social ills were the result of defects in the soul, the mind and one’s character. “The universe hinges on a moral foundation,” he would say. A physical law like gravity is built-in, he explained. It must be obeyed. You cannot jump off a building and expect to float safely. So too, God built a moral order into the universe “just as... Read more

Marriage is no place for quid pro quo. Yes, every household has division of labor, often established implicitly. Maybe the husband routinely repairs the house while the wife shops for groceries. But this arrangement cannot be “because I did this,” then “you are obligated to do that.” Or, more damaging still: “I disclosed something to you” then “you are expected in short order to disclose to me.” Marriage is a free gift… with benefits. Smile. Used sparingly, tradeoffs/compromises do have... Read more

People need explanations for new, unusual, fluid or disturbing happenings. Those people who have low tolerance for uncertainty often cope by using conspiracy theories. Conspiracy proliferates in closed cultures or subcultures. Without wide access to reliable information, people turn to a made-up scenario. In a sense many cultures of long ago were conspiratorial. They attributed unsettling events to the fates or to the capriciousness of the gods. Judaism was the first culture to impose meaning on the randomness of life.... Read more

Kellogg has used the lockout tactic before. In October 2013 the cereal company locked out its 220 Memphis employees. Issues included mandatory overtime and benefits. The situation remained until August 2014 when a federal judge ruled that in this case the tactic was illegal. The judge ordered that employees be brought back on the job with no penalty. Now Kellogg has locked out 1,400 employees at four plants. The main issue is a two-tier pay scale—newcomers get less; as old... Read more

Who invented Christmas? Our Blessed Lady is a good answer. In about 3 B.C. she gave birth to Jesus, who became known as The Christ. St. Joseph, while not Jesus’ natural father, is a fair answer because he is the main character in St. Matthew’s rendition of the Bethlehem story. St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) is another possibility because he is popularly credited with devising the Christmas Pageant. But who created Christmas as we know it with all the gifts... Read more

In coming days it is obligatory for all preachers to dust off their “Keep Christ in Christmas” sermon. The villain is commercialism. The remedy is to shop less, donate time or money to the less fortunate and to increase one’s prayer. I’m tired of this message. My concern, particularly during Advent, is my inadequate appreciation for Christ’s Incarnation and consequently my distraction from the true locus of Christ’s church. In a recent column Fr. Ron Rolheiser, OMI paraphrases a social... Read more

In a sense every sincere Christian is evangelical because the word means to live and proclaim the gospel, the good news of Jesus. From the mid-1700s there emerged a distinct evangelical movement within Protestant Christianity. The word movement is important. Some denominations are entirely evangelical, some congregations within a mainline Protestant denomination are evangelical and a small group within any one or another Christian church can have evangelical fervor. Plus, as this article will detail, in recent times the term... Read more

Here are suggestions for improving a Catholic’s appreciation for the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Number one. Instead of the usual binary choice (symbol or real presence), let the next survey include a third option like: The Eucharist is both really Christ and a symbol of a convivial dinner, of an intimate relationship, of self-sacrifice, of collective action as well as a preview of heaven. Let’s see what such a survey reveals. Polar positions on the Eucharist gradually... Read more

Pope Gregory XVI (1765-1846) opposed gas street lamps and railroad engines. Although these examples are silly today, Catholicism’s cautious stance toward modern advancements had some merit. For example, our modern notion of individual liberty is a monumental achievement of modern thinking.  But Gregory XVI was well aware of the downside. The French Revolution (1789-1799), waged under the banner of liberty, was accompanied by Reign of Terror. It involved over 16,000 executions, including many clergy and religious. Property was confiscated; Catholic... Read more

International Workers Day (May Day), the counterpart to our September Labor Day, was inspired by an 1886 event here in Chicago. The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor obtained a city permit for a May rally/demonstration in the Haymarket area (now a trendy restaurant spot).  Late in the evening someone at the rally threw dynamite. Police began to fire wildly into the dwindling crowd. Soon seven officers and four workers were dead. Eight workers were quickly rounded up, including a... Read more