Our first reading for this Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time says, “God did not make death — He fashioned all things that they might have being.” (Wisdom 1:13-14) Life is a free gift given to us by our Creator God; a gift to be enjoyed...
I shouldn’t be surprised by what I see on the internet each day, but a January 11, 2018 Seattle Times headline did capture my attention: “Box with Cremated Remains Found in Goodwill Store.” According to the Vancouver Police Department, “an employee...
Whenever a suicide occurs, those who knew the person are usually shocked, grief-stricken, and confused. “Why did he (she) make that choice?” they wonder. “Were we in any way responsible? Were there warning signs we should have noticed? If we had...
For most old people being in constant pain is the predominant condition of getting old. It dominates the aging process whether it is arthritis, gout, dementia or some other chronic condition. If there is one growing pain that I dislike the most, it...
In the middle of the 19th century, there was a six-year-old boy down South, whom we’ll call Mark. His parents had just died, and a well-to-do aunt who lived nearby took him in and raised him as if he were her own son. He grew up, received a good...
A few years ago, in early December, my wife and I attended the musical All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914. It was a wonderful production of what was probably the second most ironic event in the history of the world. In what would amount to the...
The late author, Patrick Conroy, wrote the Lords of Discipline about his school, The Citadel, a military institution in Charleston, SC. The first line read: I wear the ring. When I read that line just recently I had to look down at my gold wedding...
During a 1962 press conference, President John F. Kennedy commented on the plight of American reservists who continued to be held on active duty after the Berlin Crisis had subsided. At one point, he noted: “Life is unfair.” Tragically...
