COLUMNS

Lessons learned on a late-night journey

When I was in high school, I attended a party at a classmate's house on a military base. Most of my friends were a few years younger, so I volunteered to drive them home. When it was time to leave, the three friends I expected joined me. So did five …

Marriage is a vocation to the service of life

Pope Francis will visit Philadelphia soon for the World Meeting of Families amid much expectation as to what he will have to say. 

A concert with good music and life lessons

I went to a One Direction concert with my niece last week. Many fellow adults winced when I told them. Some said they were "sympathetic," but, truth be told, I had a lot of fun.

Children of both heaven and earth

“Because, my God, though I lack the soul-zeal and the sublime integrity of your saints, I yet have received from you an overwhelming sympathy for all that stirs within the dark mass of matter; because I know myself to be irremediably less a child of heaven and a son of …

The battle of the bulge begins by leaving the couch

For the topic of this column, I'll turn it around: "How often do you stand up? Or walk? Or do something besides sit?"

A spiritual stroll at the cemetery

This summer, my husband and I did something we didn't do when we lived in Alaska -- we took road trips throughout 48 states. And in some of those places we visited cemeteries.

Lessons from the garden are lessons in love

There is nothing my father enjoyed more in the spring than a visit to the local nursery.

On managing conflict while praying for patience

Families are made up of fighters, compromisers, sore losers and problem solvers. Are you a fighter for your rights or a compromiser? A sore loser or a problem solver?

Reading the true spirit of the pope's encyclical

I could feel the concern of the parishioner, my dear friend, who sparred with me on Pope Francis' "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home," his recent encyclical on the environment.

Using technology to humanize precious life

Ultrasound technology was in its early days when my wife and I were having children. Pictures of our babies in utero always looked like Rohrschach blots to me. I couldn't tell top from bottom. 

Apps put prayers, news, ideas in the palm of your hand

My Poppop recently got a sleek, new, blue iPhone 5 — shout out to Deacon Bill Wilson of St. Gregory the Great Parish, Hamilton Square — and he’s learning to navigate with relative ease.

The fragility of trust

Recently, hackers broke into the databases of Ashley Madison, a "dating service" for people intent on cheating on their spouses. They revealed names, street addresses and payment transactions.

A lesson in grace from Jimmy Carter

News in August that President Jimmy Carter's cancer had spread from his liver to his brain brought sadness to many in America and around the world, but his assurance that he will be "at ease with whatever comes" came as no surprise to those who have followed the 39th president …

No school days for working children

It’s that time again when adults take off to celebrate Labor Day, and kids head back to the adventures a new school year.  

Diplomacy: Turning toward peace

An old rabbi once asked his pupils how they could tell when the night had ended and the day had begun. "Could it be," asked one of his students, "when you can see an animal in the distance and tell whether it's a sheep or a dog?" "No," answered the …


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