1. Marriage: How not to be miserable

It seems to me that when many of us were growing up marriage was always presented as something to be desired. It was a golden prize that I could look forward to receiving. I could receive that prize at the end of adolescence.  Or I could...

Thursday, 23 May 2013 | Print | PDF |  E-mail | Report | Read more

2. The right to bear arms, and other fallacies

The earth is flat. The sun revolves around it, rising in the east and setting in the west. The tooth fairy gives you cash for teeth. Global warming is a commie plot to stop the annual government subsidies for Big Oil. You can’t cheat an honest...

Thursday, 23 May 2013 | 3 hits | Print | PDF |  E-mail | Report | Read more

3. Time and space, science and story

Scientists claim the universe is 13.8 billion years old (and the modern Catholic Church sees no reason to disagree). To put this “deep time” into perspective, imagine a bookshelf with 30 hardbound volumes on it. Each volume is made up of 450...

Thursday, 23 May 2013 | 3 hits | Print | PDF |  E-mail | Report | Read more

4. Lessons in radical discipleship from the church’s newest saints

This past week’s canonization of some new saints in Rome points out the Christian command to love and witness to the kerygmatic claim that “Jesus is Lord.” Each of them models how to live a radical life of discipleship in a distinct way....

Thursday, 16 May 2013 | 27 hits | Print | PDF |  E-mail | Report | Read more

5. Pope Francis and Pope Tawadros meet

An important and historical meeting took place last week in Rome between Pope Francis and Pope Tawadros, leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church, which has over 10 million members. It was the first visit of the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church...

Thursday, 16 May 2013 | 23 hits | Print | PDF |  E-mail | Report | Read more

6. Reflections after the conviction of Dr. Gosnell

Since Philadelphia abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder Monday afternoon, I’ve been reading and reflecting on the news. There’s no way to make sense of human life taken in such a horrific way,...

Thursday, 16 May 2013 | 65 hits | Print | PDF |  E-mail | Report | Read more

7. St. Joseph and the dignity of work

Many people are familiar with the feast of St. Joseph on March 19. This is an enormous holiday in Italy, where many Italians, as well as their descendants in America, eat delicious crème-filled pastries called Zeppole di San Giuseppe, often in the...

Friday, 10 May 2013 | 27 hits | Print | PDF |  E-mail | Report | Read more

8. Keeping Holocaust memories alive as survivors die

Two gatherings in recent weeks, marking milestones for those who fought in or were Holocaust victims during the Second World War, caused me to marvel at the dwindling number of both today. My father, Robert Wallace, who just turned 86 years old...

Friday, 10 May 2013 | 19 hits | Print | PDF |  E-mail | Report | Read more

9. Five things I learned from immigrants

Photo by Alan M. Dumoff                     Juan, an undocumented immigrant, speaks at the Mass for immigrant families May 3 at Divine Mercy Parish, Vineland. Born in Mexico, he came to the United States at the age of...

Friday, 10 May 2013 | 83 hits | Print | PDF |  E-mail | Report | Read more

10. The abuses of communism, and of capitalism

In 1968 nine friends and I from Rome’s North American College visited the U.S.S.R. at a time of international tension. Flying out of Prague, Czechoslovakia only two days before Soviet troops invaded that capital to put down the unprecedented...

Thursday, 02 May 2013 | 98 hits | Print | PDF |  E-mail | Report | Read more