How We Envision God
The Catholic Church, to which I belong, is observing a Jubilee Year of Mercy in 2016. Because “mercy” is one of those religious words that is otherwise seldom used in ...
Everything’s a HotPocket
I’ve become a fan of stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan, one of whose best routines is about “Hotpockets,” the infamous turnover containing meat or cheese that you cook in a microwave. ...
Feeling Far From God at Christmas
Many people feel far from God, to say nothing of religion, and never more so than at Christmastime. Though Christmas may have moved them deeply as children – and they ...
Why Religion May Turn You Off
As a kid I memorized a routine by comic Andy Griffith called “What It Was, Was Football.” I recited the thing any time I thought I had an appreciative audience, ...
When Religion Turns Brutal
A recent news story says that leaders of ISIL, which claims to be the Islamic State, often throw people they suspect of being homosexual from the tops of tall buildings ...
True Religion, II
As a young priest in a working-class parish on the north side of Kansas City, I was sent by the pastor to give the last rites to an elderly man, ...