Are you ready for Laudato Si’ Week? Is your parish ready? Perhaps you are wondering, “What is Laudato Si’ Week?” And for that matter, what does Laudato Si’ mean? Laudato Si’ is medieval Italian for “Praise be to you.” It is a quote from St. Francis of Assisi’s beautiful “Canticle of the Creatures,” “Praise be […]
“Anyone who inflicts a permanent injury on his or her neighbor shall receive the same in return: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth” (Lev. 24:19-20). Thus, this Old Testament development in moral law insisted that one could inflict punishment on a person who injured him, but only to the same degree that […]
Just over 60 years ago, the earth as we know it came dangerously close to being engulfed in a nuclear fireball. In October of 1962, the United States demanded that the Soviet Union’s nuclear missile sites in Cuba be dismantled and removed. After the Soviet Union refused, the U.S. established a Cuban naval blockade. With […]
“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’” And as if the once dead Jesus, appearing in their midst – with locked doors at […]
“The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the Gospel.” With these two compelling sentences – as recorded in the Gospel of Mark – Jesus inaugurates his ministry and sums up what his mission is about: to break the shackles of sin that enslave humanity, to put us on the path of […]
The solemn days of Holy Week offer us the opportunity to realize and reflect on the human forces who colluded to kill Jesus. But where and why did the opposition begin? The earliest Christians who heard the Gospels would be aware of Jesus’ struggle with supra-human evil forces as well as the series of controversies […]
Even before Covid-19 struck, countless workers were suffering from economic injustice in numerous ways, such as a very low minimum wage – $7.25 per hour in the U.S. – sweatshop workers in poor countries sewing clothes for name brand companies in rich nations, children laboring in dangerous conditions (see: https://www.hrw.org/topic/childrens-rights/child-labor). According to the Worker Rights […]
Forty years ago the United States Catholic bishops wrote a document that stirred up public opinion like none other. Many Catholics, and non-Catholics alike, were highly critical of the bishops. I was proud of them. In 1983, tension between the U.S. and the Soviet Union was running high. The military industrial complex was developing and […]
Jesus was totally nonviolent. Any serious contextual reading of the Gospel reveals Jesus courageously, prophetically proclaiming the Kingdom of God – often amidst hostile opposition – while never resorting to violence. “But to you who hear,” said Jesus, “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for […]
The recent 50th annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. was a victory lap for the pro-life movement. After 49 years of marching to nonviolently protest the U.S.’s infamous Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade – which legalized abortion during all nine months of pregnancy – the high court finally overruled that highly immoral […]
