The Antithesis to the Search for God

A little-noticed national news item recently reported the death of 96-year-old Judge Damon J. Keith. One of the nation’s longest-serving federal judges, he was a tireless champion of civil rights ...

A Generosity Hormone?

As a young man, I traveled to Europe on a ship. Since a friend and I were seminary students, talk at the table where about a dozen of us second-class ...

Is My Faith Merely a Cultural Expression?

As American priests in Bolivia in the 1970s, my colleagues and I tried to overcome the cultural differences between the Aymara people with whom we worked and the cultural baggage ...

Avoiding the Deep Funk

At 28, Mitchell had a passion for sports, had gotten his pilot’s license and “did really well with the ladies.” One day he jumped on his motorcycle, off to see ...

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 ...