On a rainy Rome evening, two Lents ago, a solitary elderly man in white, climbed the numerous steps leading to the front of St. Peter’s Basilica. Upon reaching the top, he turned to face an ...
In the days leading up to President Putin’s decision to order invading Russian troops into Ukraine, Pope Francis, in an apparent effort to jolt the conscience of the Russian leader, as well as the consciences ...
As I write, war between Russia and Ukraine is dangerously close. I hope and pray that as you read this, war has not become a reality. War between Russia and Ukraine will be a total ...
Last September, I reflected on Mark Allan Powell’s “What Do They Hear? Bridging the Gap between Pulpit and Pew.” Powell’s contention is twofold: first, that one’s social location or life experience influences how one fills ...
In Afghanistan, “hunger is rising and children are dying,” said David Beasley, executive director of the U.N. World Food Program. “We can’t feed people on promises – funding commitments must turn into hard cash, and ...
As I write, it is the U.S. holiday commemorating the great civil and human rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. On the evening of April 4, 1968, after preaching and being present in solidarity ...
The gospel reading for Jan. 23 is taken from Luke’s Gospel, first the introduction, 1:1-4, then the story of Jesus teaching in the synagogue of Capernaum, 4:14-21. Previously, I concentrated on the quotation from Isaiah ...
Fifty-five years ago, on Jan. 1, 1967, with the Vietnam War raging, and numerous other armed conflicts causing untold death and destruction, Pope Paul VI initiated the first World Day of Peace. He wrote, “We ...
The powerful temptation to build earthly kingdoms has been a painful thorn lodged deep within the human psyche from ancient times to the present day. Kingdoms from Babylon to Persia, from Greece to Rome, from ...
As the first Christmas of World War I approached, Pope Benedict XV on Dec. 7, 1914, asked the leaders of all warring governments to agree to an official ceasefire. He begged “that the guns may ...
