I’m rather partial to St. Joseph, considering that I bear his name and was baptized on his feast day of March 19. And so I felt a special thrill when Pope Francis announced Dec. 8 that we would be celebrating…
Advent is a time of preparation and there is no shortage of advice on how to be ready for Christmas. But with these suggestions for Advent reading, I want to take you down a slightly unusual path for the season.…
waiting. waiting. while heaven downloads onto devices a million years old. this could take all month… thank God it’s Advent: season of Hope nested inside Pandemic: season of Brick Walls (objects that stop and block but also prop up helpful…
What is this book about? Raymond Friel: It’s about being a human being, I suppose, a creature, trying to understand the Creator, trying to speak to the source of our life in ways that make sense to me and hopefully…
I don’t often express a disagreement with those who prepare liturgical texts, but on this feast I do. Saying that Christ is the King of the Universe, at least to me, makes it sound like Star Wars – that title…
I remember long ago an anecdotal story of the conference of bishops of Brazil who ended their meetings about policies and procedures with the question: “Well gentlemen, how have we helped the poor today?” Whether this account is true or…
Consider fresh water. We use it for cooking, cleaning, bathing, agriculture and for just about all our economic activities. Yet, of all the water on Earth, only 2.5% of that is fresh water; and most of that lies in icecaps…
My parents were children during the Second World War, and their memories of that time were lasting ones. They recalled doing paper and scrap drives with their pals, wearing underwear that had buttons instead of elastic, and the incredible gift…
All Souls Day is going to mean more to me this year than ever. I recently lost my brother to cancer. My thoughts are filled with memories, conversations and images of my closest sibling in age. Although his death has brought me much…
Messages from Heaven can come in conversations with strangers. Not too long ago, I had such an encounter with a woman on a bus. She was on her way to arrange for the burial of her sister’s ashes. She was really distraught…