An elderly priest was reminiscing about the earliest days of his priesthood, which occurred during World War II. Father Smith, as we’ll call him, served in a rural diocese, with many small parishes scattered throughout the countryside; he was...
Pope Francis spoke to soldiers recently saying: “The world needs you, especially at this dark moment in our history. We need men and women of faith capable of putting weapons at the service of peace and brotherhood.” Like most of us, I recognize...
“You shall not carve idols for yourselves in the shape of anything in the sky above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth.” (Exodus 20:4) It should be obvious to us believers that no human being can adequately create an image of...
I’d bet that, for many of us when we were growing up, one of our favorite movies was The Wizard of Oz. One of the scenes from the movie that’s always stuck with me is when Dorothy and her friends return to the wizard’s castle and bring him the...
I urge you, brothers, and sisters, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice. (Romans 12:1) Hmmm. This is unusual. Why not our souls? Why not our hearts? First, we should try to divest ourselves of our Western mentality...
My wife and I decided to move to a new home in Georgia last year. At our ages it was probably not a smart life change but sometimes you just have to push the envelope near the edge of the table. After nine arduous months of waiting for the home...
The start of 2022 has been strange indeed, not only for Europe, but for the entire world, not least of all for the United States. In January and early February a serious affliction was growing much worse in the U.S. and elsewhere. I am not referring...
An important 19th century preacher and religious leader named Henry Ward Beecher was famous for his eloquent oratory and his powerful opposition to slavery, and his words and example carried great influence in American society. As a boy, he...
