COLUMNS

Dare breaking bread with others, risk seeing Jesus' face

During the Easter season, the Sunday liturgy provides us with truly fascinating Scripture passages. We regularly encounter the first disciples trying to make sense of the Resurrection. At least, we know that we are not alone doing so!

'Alleluia is our Song'

St. Augustine once said, “We are an Easter people and alleluia is our song!” What a beautiful reminder of the joy that accompanies this season of resurrection and redemption.

An African refugee family that has much to teach us

My Easter column is about a Nigerian Christian refugee family – father, mother and two sons – that fled northern Nigeria in 2017 in fear of attacks on Christians by Boko Haram terrorists.

Ascending, descending and just keeping steady

Where should we be casting our eyes? Upward, downward, or just on the road that we’re walking?  

Appreciating the gift of Holy Communion

Holy Communion is the most precious gift that Jesus gave us.

The women who stayed

The women were the ones who stayed. I regret to say that I missed this for most of my life.

Slow down to spark joy

Our dishwasher broke five months ago. We decided not to fix it because we were short on money, so we tried washing dishes by hand for a while. This obviously slowed everything down.

A question sprung from the garden

It was the Tuesday after Easter, and the priest who was celebrating Mass for our group of volunteers at an inner-city Jesuit middle school was practically bursting with joy.

All the news that's fit to print

“Wife Returned After Having Fine Funeral.”   The headline of a 483-word story in the March 15, 1904 edition of The New York Times bore a sly nod to Tom Sawyer. 

Two nuggets for the commencement season

It is commencement season and I am collecting my thoughts for upcoming speeches.

A picture of peace and radical love

Each May, The Christophers gather to bestow awards on books, film, and television programs that affirm the highest values of the human spirit. 

Hope and joy in are found in the caress of God

“I found one!” The voice from the family room was that of my 30 something son, delighted in his find of an egg, undiscovered during the annual egg hunt on Easter Sunday.

What Jean Vanier taught us

So it was on May 7 when I learned of the death earlier that morning of Jean Vanier, the founder of L'Arche communities, which allowed those with disabilities to live with friendship, dignity and kinship side by side with those who consider themselves "enabled."

Parish disability ministry: What does it take?

"Prayer, listening, a heart for advocacy and not being afraid of pushing doors open when they seem to be closed."

The challenge of reconciliation

"For it is not an enemy that reviled me – that I could bear – not a foe who viewed me with contempt, from that I could hide.


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