The Crèche
Last night, as I was walking on the Green in my home city, I stopped by the crèche – nestled on the rough equivalent of half a parking space ceded by the city, installed (and funded) by my hometown multinational men’s...
Tagged: Suffering
He had to become less for us to become more
Reflection for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time I’d like to focus on one point from this gospel reading, specifically the incident involving the woman who for twelve years was afflicted with hemorrhages: “If I but touch his clothes, I...
God, Humanity, Suffering: A New Paradigm
A reflection on the readings of September 3, 2021 — the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time. When available, the audio of this homily will be available here. I could be wrong, but I think one of the things we might...
Suffering: A Painful Privilege
A reflection on the Readings of Sunday, April 30, 2023 — The Fourth Sunday of Easter. Click here for the audio version. There are a few things that are common to all of humanity. We all feel hunger, for example....
The Sufferings of Jesus Were Many
On Saturday, April 1, Pope Francis was discharged from Gemelli University Hospital after recovering from bronchitis. Then, on Sunday, he gave a beautiful homily on Palm Sunday and the suffering of Jesus. Pope Francis said there were three types of...
Father Ed: A man for God and others
What does it mean to be a Catholic man? In recent years, many podcasts, YouTube videos, articles, and books have been devoted to the subject. The number is not surprising. As many argue, the Catholic Church in the West is...
Apologetics Disease and the Problem of Evil
A friend of mine once said that apologetics is a mental disease. Obviously, this is an exaggeration; there is a long and noble tradition of Christian apologetics, and many great thinkers have produced apologia on behalf of the Faith. Still,...
Jesus Wants to Live His Life in Us
A reflection on the readings for Sunday, September 12, 2021 — The Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time There is a story from a little over fifty years ago, during the US civil rights era, in which one person told another how much...
Our Unfolding Suffering
Many Catholics today try to find solace in their suffering by imposing meaning upon their experiences. The desire to make sense of the chaos of the modern age often leads people to attempt to customize their lives and the lives...
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....
Hypocrisy extinguishes the flames of God
Lent is a transition, a journey of return and repentance. But it is not the final destination. Traditionally, as the ashes are placed on our heads, we are told, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”...
“Everything Is Grace” at Christmas with Pope Francis
We sat in the car, my husband and I, still stunned, trying to eat a quick dinner before we drove to the hospital. I was avoiding looking at the medical building we had left earlier, the one with the unfamiliar...
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