Humility, the Most Despised Virtue?
Today, many Christian churches celebrate Holy Thursday. For me and my fellow Catholics, the day commemorates Jesus’ institution of the Eucharist, or Mass, and the priesthood. Included in today’s Mass ...
Gratitude for our Common Home
From a distance the world looks blue and green And the snow-capped mountains white From a distance the ocean meets the stream And the eagle takes to flight. People of ...
Doubt, and the Fear of Death
Back in 1995 when I was 53 years old, I wrote a Father’s Day piece for The Des Moines Sunday Register about Pat Carney, my 94-year-old father. It was entitled, ...
How Religion Makes Us Better
I’ve noticed that as I grow older, I’m less likely to have bouts of anger – something that in the past I’ve had more often than I care to admit ...
Chasing Certainty
In the newsroom at the newspaper where I worked was a sign saying, “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.” The message, of course, is that nothing ...
Good, and Bad, Priests
My best friend – after my wife and kids – is Father Gerald Waris. We’ve been friends for at least 72 years when his family moved in “across the alley” ...