A famous movie made back in 1959 was the religious epic Ben Hur, starring the great actor Charlton Heston (with a remake made in 2016). In this fictional story, Judah Ben Hur was a wealthy Jewish prince living in Jerusalem with his mother and sister...
During the Masses of February 17th and 18th, I had the grace of reading the Pastoral Letter for Lent 2024 written by the Maltese Bishops, namely Msgr. Charles J. Scicluna, the Archbishop of Malta, Msgr. Anton Teuma, Bishop of Gozo as well as Msgr...
Chances are that we, ordinary people, can still list our successes, because they are limited in number. But even in their limited number they can give us some reassurance that the future will be better. Actually, to be more precise: ordinary people...
Some years ago an elderly man collapsed on a busy street corner in downtown Brooklyn, and in the ambulance on the way to the hospital he kept calling out for his son. A nurse at the hospital went through his wallet, looking for identification, and...
About thirty years ago a U.S. Marine named Jim was given leave for ten days, and he was inspired to go to India in hopes of meeting and assisting Mother Teresa. When he arrived in Calcutta after a flight of almost 8000 miles, Jim was shocked and...
St. Teresa of Calcutta reportedly said, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” The thought is inspiring, but it raises two questions, “What kinds of ‘small things’ does it apply to?” and “How will those...
Over 100 years ago the great Russian author Leo Tolstoy wrote a much-loved story called Where Love Is, God Is . The hero of the story is an old cobbler, or shoemaker, who one night dreamt that Jesus told him, “Tomorrow I will visit you in your shop...
A hard-hearted banker had just turned down a young man seeking a loan, but then—in order to amuse himself—he said, “My boy, I’ll tell you what. I have one good eye and one glass eye. If you can tell me which is which, I’ll approve your loan.” The...
