Today, as I write, is World Refugee Day (June 20). For those of us who are not refugees – nor internally displaced people, migrants, asylum seekers – it is easy to ignore their plight involving fears of harm and death, traveling long and dangerous unknown paths, hunger, thirst, carrying the uncertainty of not knowing if […]
Memorial Day in the U.S. is a time when Americans honor U.S. combatants killed in wars. It is a day of intense nationalism with lots of flag waving accompanied with a perceived need for military strength – even superiority. But with more than 1 million Americans who have lost their lives fighting in America’s many […]
St. Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians writes, “When you meet in one place, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper, for in eating, each one goes ahead with his own supper, and one goes hungry while another gets drunk. … Do you show contempt for the Church of God and […]
Although a court jury’s recent verdict convicting former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin of murder and manslaughter in the death George Floyd has been declared, the jury is still out on how we will comprehensively educate and work to rid our society, nation and world of racism and prejudice against various ethnicities and minorities. […]
As we approach the global celebration of Earth Day (April 22), it would be wise for Catholics to reflect on Pope Francis’ famous environmental encyclical letter “Laudato Si (On Care for Our Common Home).” Citing Francis of Assisi – patron saint of ecology – Pope Francis writes, “Our common home is like a sister with […]
Pope Francis has often urged us to prayerfully meditate before the crucifix. Because by prayerfully meditating before the crucifix, one can see and begin to understand the ultimate result of sin. The Romans’ sins, the Jews’ sins, our sins nailed our Lord Jesus to the cross. The cost of sin is death. Our sins killed […]
“Repent and believe in the Gospel” – the call we received from Christ on Ash Wednesday – is a radical call, the most important call we will ever receive. It directs our attention to uprooting all that is sinful in our lives and to ever more fully live lives of love – for friend and […]
They are deadbeats who want free benefits from our country. They are taking our jobs. They are dangerous criminals who are hurting our people and our country. “They” are the 11 million undocumented migrants living in the U.S. And “they” are overwhelmingly not any of the above. Quite the contrary! Numerous studies confirm that immigrants […]
On Ash Wednesday, with dust-like ashes crossed upon our foreheads we were each invited to call to mind that this mortal body, this earthly life, is passing away – sooner than we realize – and that you and I would be wise to diligently prepare for eternity, to get our lives in God-like order. “Remember […]
Slavery ended in the 19th century, right? Wrong. It’s an easy enough mistake to make. After all, the end of America’s civil war and the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – both in 1865 – brought an end to slavery in the U.S. and the British Slavery Abolition Act in 1834 ended slavery in […]
