Catholic. Pastoral. Trusted.
Prayer: Our Deepest Longing Ronald Rolheiser Franciscan Media $8.99 Those who pray can too often be dissatisfied with, even judgmental, of their practice. We believe we need to say correct words, assume a particular posture, or show God a certain face. And so we struggle with what is meant to...
November 2013 A dusty eight-inch knight in armor stands guard on my desk, holding a letter-opener lance in his gauntleted hands. Years ago, he stood watch on my father’s desk. Next to the knight sits a well-worn prayer book, stuffed prayer and holy cards, that belonged to my mother. I...
October 2013 When I was a kid at Mass, crammed into a pew at Christ the King Church with my parents, my aunt, and my three siblings, I sometimes fidgeted. My mind wandered to lunch or my itchy church clothes or something else I wanted to be doing. Usually, one...
October 2013 "We live in a messy world in which clear-cut answers are hard to come by." I don’t know about you, but I find the word discernment a little intimidating. It’s my responsibility as a Christian to do God’s will, but figuring out what that means in every situation...
When I was a kid at Mass, crammed into a pew at Christ the King Church with my parents, my aunt, and my three siblings, I sometimes fidgeted. My mind wandered to lunch or my itchy church clothes or something else I wanted to be doing. Usually, one of my...
Rebuilt Awakening the Faithful, Reaching the Lost, Making Church Matter Michael White and Tom Corcoran, foreword by Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan Ave Maria Press $16.95 In this inspiring, humorous, and practical book Fr. Michael White, pastor of the Church of the Nativity in Lutherville-Timonium, Maryland, and Tom Corcoran, pastoral associate,...
September 2013 Muchas parroquias y diócesis tienden a centrarse en el desafío que representa la creciente presencia hispana. No es de sorprenderse; previamente una oleada de católicos que llegaban a Estados Unidos fue recibida con igual actitud. Sin embargo, ya en el 2002 el documento Encuentro y misión: un marco...
A photograph of my mother’s brother, Lawrence Lynch, had a special place on the family piano in our home. Dressed in a captain’s uniform, he’s seated at a metal desk. He’s smiling warmly. Uncle Lawrence was a Redemptorist priest who served as an army chaplain with the Fighting 69th Irish...
September 2013 "Most of us have never lived in or experienced a “missionary” Church." Popes Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis have something in common other than the papacy: a focus on the new evangelization. Paul VI popularized the term in his 1975 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi. John Paul II explained...
September 2013 "Conversion doesn’t happen according to a schedule." Occasions like New Year’s, Ash Wednesday, and birthdays seem custom-made for adopting new life goals. It’s neat and tidy to say, “As of January 1, I will no longer lose my temper with my children.” “Beginning Ash Wednesday, I will stop...
September 2013 Welcome to our September issue, in which we celebrate the joy of renewal. As discussed by columnist Kate Basi in “Just Live It,” the act of becoming new is constant. This month, for example, students are back in school, breathing in the scent of crayons, old books, or...
A little boy asked his grandpa how old he was. Grandpa teasingly replied, “I’m not sure.” To which the little boy advised, “Look in your underwear, Grandpa. Mine says I’m 4 to 6!” A teacher asked her students to write a sentence about a public servant. One boy wrote, “The...
Navigating the Interior Life: Spiritual Direction and the Journey to God Daniel Burke with Fr. John Bartunek, LC, STL Emmaus Road $13.95 This book gives ordinary people a powerful framework for participating in spiritual direction whether they are beginners, veterans of spiritual direction, or strugglers outside the process. Noting that all...
Christians who envision life to be like a voyage on the open sea seek the guiding light of Mary. In his classic sermon on Mary, St. Bernard of Clairvaux encourages us to take solace in Our Lady, “star of the sea” (Stella Maris), as we navigate the volatile sea that...
July-August 2013 Michael couldn’t wait to tell his second-grade friend what had happened to him. “A policeman pointed a gun at my head this morning!” Michael’s friend was scared, so he told the teacher, who told the principal, who called Michael’s parents. His parents explained that their home had been...
July-August 2013 One ordinary afternoon, I pulled up to a stoplight—an ordinary mom driving an ordinary minivan with three small children chattering unintelligibly in the back. Beside our minivan stood a man in a camouflage jacket holding a cardboard sign that read, HOMELESS—HUNGRY—ANYTHING HELPS. At moments like these, the wisdom...
July-August 2013 Therapists working with patients unable to make a decision because they’re paralyzed by fear or anger often use a technique called reframing to give them a different perspective. Similar to putting a new frame around a familiar picture, therapeutic reframing enables situational details that were once hidden to...
January 2012
Five-year-old Amy anxiously asked, “Is my mother here?”
“Amy, how nice to see you!” exclaimed Mrs. Murphy. “Won’t you come in and visit for a while?”
Amy’s big brown eyes darted past Mrs. Murphy and peered into her parlor, hoping to see another person there. Disappointed, she answered, “No, thank you, Mrs. Murphy. I’m just looking for my mother. I know she sometimes stops here on her way home from shopping.”
What do I say to this child? Mrs. Murphy asked herself, turning a little pale. Then, regaining her composure, she said, “Amy, please come in for a minute. I just happen to have some gingerbread cookies! How about having some milk and cookies with me?” tempted Mrs. Murphy as she remembered the last time she had seen Amy.
The Yes that Changed the World It always amazes me that the Holy Spirit seeks to “renew the face of the earth” (Psalm 104:30) by coming to the simple and lowly, to the little, to the frightened, to the least. After these encounters their lives begin to flower, with nothing...
May-June 2013 "We never know when a choice that’s unimportant to us may be the catalyst for someone else’s really big choice." I sat down to write this column thirty-six hours after the horrific massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Months later, this tragic episode has taken its place among myriad...