When I checked the news headlines on X Tuesday morning, I noticed several posts referring to Hope: The Autobiography, the book by Pope Francis that was announced to the world back in October — hyped up as an autobiography that...
In these early days of the new year, many of us are probably feeling a mixture of anxiety and hope – anxious about the many crises in our nation and world, yet hopeful that 2025 will be better. In his...
In this first episode of 2025, I talked with my good friend and mentor, Monica Pope, about hope. We began by talking about the role of the catechist before launching into a catechesis about hope in light of the theme...
Story-telling is a thing right now, but it wasn’t when I sent a one-minute pitch to The Moth in 2013. I had been listening to the Moth on public radio stations for years: “True stories, told live, no notes.” And...
In this episode of Third Space, Angela Sealana and I have a conversation about what it means to live abundantly as a Catholic today. More specifically, we talk about what hope looks like when it’s not misused to bypass lament,...
Are you a hopeful Catholic or a “prophet of doom”? The furious response by the pope’s critics after he said in January that he hopes hell is empty might offer some clues. Regardless of denomination or sect, insisting on Massa...
I work with homeless and at-risk youth. I’ve been doing it for 42 years, the first few decades in or around New York City but for the last 20 years in Vermont. I’m an executive director, a role which entails...
A reflection on the Readings for June 18, 2023, the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time In the first reading today, God tells Moses, “You have seen for yourselves how I treated the Egyptians and how I bore you up on...
In his Wednesday General Audience today, April 5, Pope Francis spoke of the hope that arises from the cross, which is a true paradox. He began by asking “Where is your hope?” Do we, accordingly, place it rightly in Christ?...
I believe that love is a requirement for disappointment. I love the Catholic Church. I’ve shared this story many times, but during the summer following my high school graduation, at a Steubenville Youth Conference, I fell in love with Jesus,...
Early in the pontificate of Pope Francis I was, generally speaking, what could be called a “Francis skeptic.” To be honest I didn’t pay that much attention to him at first. As the father of three little kids, I primarily...
The Advent and Christmas seasons are emotionally impactful for me, even more than Lent and Easter. How can this be? Lent prepares us for Christ’s Passion and on Easter we celebrate his Resurrection. It is when we celebrate how he...
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