Do We Really Need a God like Us?

When I worked as a priest in Bolivia, I was told that the Aymara-speaking people in my parish would do anything short of murder and mayhem to get their babies ...

Getting Home

I recently attended a Mass at Old St. Patrick’s Church in Chicago’s West Loop where the new archbishop, Blase Cupich, happened to be visiting and conducting the liturgy. As usual ...

Finding Your Calm

For many of us in the western world, a glut of obstacles impedes the search for God. In my view, they include indulgent prosperity, religious illiteracy, damaging sex, secularism and “busyness.” ...

Good Old-Fashioned Hate

Years ago, a colleague at The Des Moines Register related what happened when he was covering members of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, KS, who were protesting something ...

Who’s In and Who’s Not?

My admiration for Pope Francis is no secret to readers of this blog. So what’s his greatest contribution to the modern world? In my opinion, it’s his oft-quoted conviction that ...

Who Is Seeking Whom?

Most of us grew up as Christians or Jews. We went to Mass, Sunday school or Hebrew School. We heard fantastic stories about Moses and Abraham, Peter, Paul and Jesus. ...