On a plane recently, I overheard a conversation between a young boy — about three or four years old — and his father. Before the flight began, the boy repeatedly asked to play with his Legos; his father responded, “Not on the plane.” Eventually, the boy fell asleep. After napping through almost the entire two-hour…
I understand all the human emotions; really, I do. I feel them myself. The sins involved here are despicable, unthinkable and outrageous. There has been a momentous betrayal of trust and abominable failure among who knows how many bishops, covering up hideous sins and causing more innocent people to be abused and violated. Nevertheless, our…
The “bread of life” discourse in John 6 is a familiar chapter for most Catholics. Earlier in the chapter, Jesus performed the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves (John 6:1-13) and crossed the sea to Capernaum. Later, some of those who partook of the loaves followed him to the other side, hoping for more…
Aug. 13 Patron of altar servers The patron saint of altar servers, John wanted to be a priest from boyhood, when he might serve at five Masses a day in his native Flanders, now in Belgium. This son of a shoemaker began priestly studies with the Jesuits at 17. Drawn to simple devotions like praying…
An elderly priest conducting a retreat at the Motherhouse this summer asked for help with his cellphone. No matter what he did, his email messages would not send. The problem, it turned out, was simply the way he was tapping the “send” button. As I tried to model the requisite light, angled touch, I realized…
One of the most controversial portions of Old Testament, especially since the rise of atheism, is God’s command to Israel to wipe out of the Canaanites, Perizzites, Jebusites and others. How could a good God command someone to “utterly destroy” every person? But there is a lot more going on in Joshua (and Judges) than…
