I sometimes joke that I ran screaming from my parents’ house at 17. I’m joking, but only just. So, it has been a happy surprise that my children have continued to want to be close to Tom and me even into their 30s. A faith-filled, joyful family is a...
Reflections- From Our Archives
Crawling Back to God’s Law
In our last thrilling episode (See Slip-Sliding Away from God’s Law), we highlighted two Truths that considered together tend to make us uncomfortable: Since the days of Moses, the second part of the Third Commandment...
The Luck of the Irish
I have always been fascinated by the expression, The Luck of the Irish. I am not saying this because my late first wife was an O’ Rourke and was lucky to find someone as wonderful as me.* It might surprise the...
All Essays
Presumption
My favorite rendition of the Crucifix is the one whose arms are perfectly horizontal, as to embrace the whole world. The readings for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time illustrate the fact that God wishes to include every...
Brotherly Love in the Time of Social Media
I sometimes wonder what my paternal grandmother would have thought about social media. She was a highly sociable woman with many friends. She and my grandfather were “joiners”. They liked being an active part of their...
Every Day We Are Given Opportunities to Make a Difference
Temple University in Philadelphia is the third largest university in Pennsylvania; it enjoys a worldwide reputation for research, scholarship, and education, and has international campuses in Tokyo and...
Desert Flowers
A desert has an atmosphere of impending death. This can be seen most vividly in the arid terrain below sea level known as Death Valley in California. The valley is located largely in Inyo County. In 1849 thirty pioneers...



























