Lack of gratitude Recently, I confessed my consistent failures in praying a nightly examination of conscience. Then I asked if the priest could make some suggestions. Father Charlie Banks replied, “Conscious examen” suggesting a review of the day, starting with the good things, giving thanks for them. Then on to those that hadn’t been so […]
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Goal of education Although it was a zillion years ago, I well recall my casual summer date’s, “Why liberal arts? What can you do with a degree in English literature?” In just a month, I was moving to Houston to work my way through college for a degree in English literature. I’d spent three years
Goal of Education: To be Fit for Modern World Or? Read More »
Lest we give offense Last Monday’s Gospel passage in the Christian liturgy details the peculiar passage about the Capernaum Temple tax. The disciples are reeling from what Jesus has told them at the start of the Gospel: the Son of Man is to be “…handed over to men. And they will kill him and he
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Shall we build three tents: Tu Es Petras It’s always a surprise to me when The Feast of the Transfiguration rolls around on August sixth. It’s not so on the second Sunday in Lent when we once again celebrate the transfigured Jesus on Mount Tabor. On that Sunday, it feels like the goalpost we each
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Instead of a Sunday, A Day Off “Instead of a Sunday,” Baron K. told us, “the Russians have a day off. This happens at certain intervals which vary in different parts of the country. First they had a five-day week, with the sixth day off, then they had a nine-day work period, with the tenth
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Saint James Church, Medjugorje, Bosnia Saint James and Medjugorje I’d not thought much about Saint James–until Thursday’s daily 6am Mass, that is. July 25 is Saint James the Greater’s Feast Day. During that liturgy, I got a nudge–more a push– to dump the reflection I’d written for today and write this new one. Okay… James
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Return to right reason “How are you?” I stared at him, choked by the avalanche of tears threatening to erupt. Steve, my former doctoral advisor and head of dissertation committee, nodded and said, “Come see me.” I’d just completed a talk on medical ethics bolstered by my dissertation research.. My professional life was at an
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We have no king Often, the readings from the Old Testament seem directed at us. Like last week’s daily Mass readings from The Book of Amos that overflow with Israel’s –read our own–infidelities against God. And this week’s from Hosea. Listen to the reading from the Christian liturgy for Wednesday:. Israel is a luxuriant vinewhose
We Have No king: Amazed at Their Lack of Faith Read More »
Hillsdale College- Last Days of a Revolutionary: eight-minute video that warrants your time. American exceptionalism: Constitution and Bill of Rights A few weeks ago, a newsletter called “Texas Minute” showed up in my inbox. After providing snippets of state news, author Michael Quinn Sullivan wrote about historian Mellen Chamberlain’s 1887 interview with the last surviving
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Maintaining the integrity of words isn’t my phrase. But that of Bishop Erik Varden and expresses a belief that is dear to my heart. Why do I think it so dear that it warrants 800 words? Even as a kid, I loved words. The process of learning to use words that perfectly encapsulated worlds of
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