I walked past two friends of my daughters, fundraising for the Mary Potter Hospice in Wellington. As well as feeling proud that these young women were choosing to fill their free time with such worthy pursuits, the sight of the “hospice” logo brought back some very vivid memories for me. Some years ago now, my gentle Read more
Adaptation is a fundamental environmental thought. It means evolution or evolving. It implies that nature changes and lives and dies. It means that nature is more like an organism than a thing. Following Pope Francis, many of us have come to argue that all of nature is alive and in a kind of ecological harmony/disharmony Read more
As I was trying to discern what God wanted me to write about, I walked into my 16-year-old son’s bedroom to discover a military calendar hanging on the wall. It highlighted young men and women in combat fatigues, fighter jets, an aircraft carrier battle group and plenty of American flags. I knew from personal experience Read more
We were nearing the end of a writing workshop and it was time for questions. Given the subjects covered, I expected queries about submissions, publishers or maybe agents. But the first question was, “Do you think writing is like meditation?” and from that evolved a vigorous conversation about the spiritual aspect of inspiration and creative Read more
Mike King is a straight-up sort of guy. He calls a spade a spade. I don’t know him well, but whenever I’ve spent time with him his authenticity has radiated from his heart. King cares about mental health. He cares about saving lives. He cares about people. And he won’t waste his time with buck-passing Read more
This summer will mark the thirty-fifth anniversary of the installation of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin as the twelfth bishop and seventh archbishop of Chicago. He served the archdiocese and the church with singular distinction and is perhaps most remembered for his consistent-ethic-of-life approach to critical issues of the day. He was guided by three convictions: that Read more
Where there is the presence of Jesus, there is the presence of His Mother. – Fulton J. Sheen The Catholic devotion to Mary has never come easily to me. I know Mary is, for some people, the way they discovered and really developed a relationship with Jesus. But for me, it was the opposite. Jesus Read more
I like the idea of small churches. But if they’re so great, why do I see so many more unhealthy small churches than unhealthy big churches? A small church pastor asked me that question recently. Not from cynicism or unkindness. It was out of genuine concern for a reality he saw. To be honest, it’s Read more
It’s an odd sight to see the Pope Francis – with his anti-war, anti-corruption, anti-violence and pro-environment beliefs – greeting President Trump whose policies are not those of the Western people he claims to represent says Robert Fisk. “After two days lecturing a collection of head-choppers, dictators, torturers and land thieves, Donald Trump at last Read more
In the course of their meeting Pope Francis gave President Trump a signed copy of his 2017 peace message entitled “Nonviolence — A Style of Politics for Peace,” and a copy of his 2015 encyclical letter on the need to protect the environment from the effects of climate change. “Well, I’ll be reading them,” Trump Read more