Living to Die, Dying to Live
A reflection on the Sunday readings for March 21, 2021 — the Fifth Sunday in Lent This is the story of Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng, a Burmese nun. As you are likely aware, recently the military assumed power in Burma...
Category: Reflection
Joseph, the Most Chaste
In the Divine Praises, Saint Joseph is called the “most chaste spouse.” Personally speaking, and given the dogma of Mary’s perpetual virginity, in the past I’ve implicitly reduced Joseph’s chastity to the simple fact that his wife was a virgin....
Sleeping St. Joseph and the Sacred Siesta
St. Joseph’s many titles make one thing clear about his saintly role: it sounds exhausting. It also sort of sounds like our modern, busy lives, doesn’t it? Thus a devotion to the Sleeping St. Joseph, recently popularized by Pope Francis,...
Chaste love is for everyone
The Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith’s response to the question of whether the Church has the power to bless same-sex unions, and the reaction that ensued upon its publication, is a moment of reckoning for Catholics. Although the...
From Cancellation to Transformation
Cancel Culture, a term of recent origin often possessing a negative connotation, usually occurs after a person’s offensive words or harmful actions become public. The outcry from the public can lead to the person’s loss of employment, status, and/or reputation—thereby...
Love for Love
A reflection on the Sunday readings for March 14, 2021 — the Fourth Sunday in Lent My parish has always maintained archives. Recently, our staff made a tremendous effort to clean and organize them. But we have also started something new....
Abandonment to Love: Francis’s papacy turns 8
Pope Francis was elected eight years ago today. I had been hoping to write something today to mark the anniversary. It’s growing late. But I can’t let this day pass without commenting on one aspect of Francis’s approach that is...
Write Less, Read More; Talk Less, Listen More
In August of last year, I wrote a reflection on chronic illness, chronic pain, and the way world leaders, including Pope Francis and former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, deal with these afflictions. Since I wrote this reflection, the subject...
The Pope has left Iraq. Is that it?
Pope Francis’s trip to Iraq has been one of the most energizing moments in recent Iraqi history. A moment of jubilation and hope that one analyst likened to the brief euphoria felt when Iraqi won the Asian Cup in 2007....
Magnanimity: Exercising mercy to become more like Christ
At the beginning of Lent, I reflected on our Gospel call to grow in mercy during this season. Connected to and emerging from this theme of mercy, I believe Jesus is further asking us to form our hearts in union...
OCD, Scrupulosity, and the Journey of Faith
On an unexceptional Friday in February 2012, I came home for a weekend away from college life, as students regularly do. What set my trip apart from others was my motivation: I wasn’t looking to visit family or pets, nor...
“God will know his name”
Continuing to read Pope Francis’s Fratelli Tutti during Lent I am focusing on these words from Chapter 2: “Each day we have to decide whether to be Good Samaritans or indifferent bystanders” (FT 69). What if we live a life...
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