Our heart of darkness
"The people stood by and watched." This simple line in Luke's Passion narrative (Lk 23:35) struck me with unusual force this past Holy Week. Under Roman governance, executions were a public spectacle, ...
'Put no trust in princes'
Scoring presidential administrations on some kind of Christian scale would seem to be an effort doomed to fail. Political agendas and actions rarely align easily with the teachings of the Gospel. Much ...
Called not to be served but to serve
Pope Francis' most recent encounter with mortality has captured the world's attention. As of this writing, he remains in the hospital fighting double pneumonia with a "reserved" prognosis. God willing, ...
In Pacific Palisades, paradise lost
I have trouble talking about the loss without tearing up, as if the smoke and ash from Los Angeles traveled across country to find me. My in-laws were French immigrants to California, proud Americans, ...
Getting adult children to Christmas Mass
There are two kinds of families that I notice at Christmas Mass. The first are those with young children dressed up in their best Christmas finery, excited about the whole day. The kids sing the songs ...
Men behaving beastly
"Why do men become beasts?" The question was asked by South African Archbishop Buti Joseph Tlhagale. In a speech last August, he was warning men that they will be held accountable for the treatment ...
The challenges of being a Catholic voter
Every four years, for as long as I've been in the Catholic press, editors get two types of phone calls come election time. The first is to complain about the perceived bias of the editor or her reporters. Once, ...
Dealing with pandemic PTSD
I'd like a show of hands for how many of you tested positive for COVID this summer. Or felt like heck but didn't have any tests on-hand. Or self-diagnosed your distress as summer flu, even though this ...
