Saying “No” to the Sense of Entitlement
We huffed and puffed climbing the steep path up a scruffy mountain, over orange to watermelon-sized rocks and the big tree roots protruding between them. It was hot, and the ...
Must You Be a Soldier in the Culture War?
David Brooks, the famous columnist for the New York Times who often appears as a commentator on TV news shows, recently wrote a column called “The Benedict Option.” An apparently ...
Sweating the Small Stuff
The sign on a college classroom door reads, “Philosophy 101.” A professor walks in and places a jar, about the size of an average cookie jar, on his desk. He ...
The Morality of Nurse Jackie
Sometimes as I jump rope – an exercise I’ve done most days for at least 35 years – I watch episodes of the series, “Nurse Jackie,” on Netflix. The show ...
Lent: Does Voluntary Suffering Make Sense?
I wrote in a previous blog about my visit as a young man to London’s famous Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park. Anyone can get on a soapbox there and talk ...
Why Doesn’t God Answer Prayers?
One Sunday night when I was a priest in Bolivia, a man pounded on my door and asked for help. He was a “marinero,” a member of a crew of ...