believed the distressed man’s story about being broke and needing some money from me to secure his driving license so that he could get a job as a bus driver. However, there was just one detail that kept me from giving him the money that
All of us are called to become saints. How do we know? Jesus commanded us: “Be holy as your heavenly Father is holy.” (Mt. 5:48) In other words: Become a saint! Most saints have not been officially canonized but are anonymous, unknown except by God alone. Given that
The Sisters of Life are a special kind of religious community. Founded in 1991 by John Cardinal O’Connor, the sisters take a vow to protect and enhance the sanctity of human life — and they that much of their community life flows from that pledge.
When I was about 10 years old I took some sailing lessons and then did so again when I was in my early 30s. Sailing involves a kind of romancing of the wind, wherein one observes it and then adapts to it, wooing it, learning
Jesus insists in Sunday’s Gospel (Lk 13:1-9) that, without repentance (metanoia), we “will all perish” and be “cut down” like barren fig trees. He’s not threatening us or merely requiring us to reject sin. He’s lovingly calling us to metanoia as the only way to share His
Saints had a knack for shaking things up as they blazed a heavenly trail, taking others with them. And here we are in our ordinary lives, putting gas in our cars, eating sandwiches and checking email. And praying. Because we do love Jesus, even if ever so
Going all-in at Lent requires a commitment to fasting. Of the three pillars of Lent — prayer, almsgiving and fasting — fasting is the one that affects us mind, body and spirit. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for
Today is Ash Wednesday, a day that takes its name from the ashes imposed on Catholics’ foreheads to mark the beginning of Lent. Why ashes? Because, as the traditional formula of imposition puts it, “Remember man that you are dust, and to dust you will
The yellowing notebook for my college philosophy of religion class contains this plaintive inscription: Sunday school was never this complicated. Similarly, the Beatitudes are more complex than they first appear. They are (like all of Scripture) inexhaustibly rich. The deeper you dig, the more they yield.
Sister Andre Randon, a French nun, celebrated her 118th birthday on Feb. 11. This milestone makes her the second-oldest living person in the world and the oldest living person in Europe, according to the Gerontology Research Group, which validates details of people believed to be
