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We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works. We should not stay away from the assembly, as is the custom of some, but encourage one another, and this all the more as you see the day drawing near. Hebrews 10:24-25 This passage from today’s first mass reading stuck with me…
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Today the Catholic Church celebrates St. Thomas Aquinas, a 13th century Domincan priest and maybe the smartest Christian ever. His work brought together Christian theology and classical Greek philosophy in ways that show that faith and reason are not oppositional. In fact, for Aquinas the two perfect each other. Three quick things about Aquinas worth…
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God, grant me the serenityto accept the things I cannot changethe courage to change the things I canand the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time,enjoying one moment at a time.Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace.Taking, as he did, the sinful world as it is,not as I would have it.Trusting…
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I have been blessed a few times over recent months by people I know who have asked my advice on whether to say something that might be emotionally risky to people they love. As I’ve listened to them describe the situation and what they want to express, I found myself asking a question that I…
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Is Disney a cult? I mentioned recently that, while I have spent time exploring the ways in which football is America’s true religious practice, I haven’t really given Disney the same treatment. So let me take a stab at fixing that. For those who haven’t read Abandoning Temples, its premise is that one thing that…
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You could do worse. At some point last year, I was reading a daily devotional that had the message that parents needed to inculcate in their children the stories that tell them who they are, or else Disney will do it for you. And my thought at that moment was, “You could do worse.” I’ll…
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OK, so, when you’re too sick to go to any of the Christmas masses, part of the makeup assignment is to read the readings for all the variations of masses – Christmas Eve vigil, Christmas mass during the night, Christmas mass at dawn (which probably isn’t too crowded), Christmas mass during the day. It’s not…
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This year, I sort of missed Christmas. For whatever reason, it seems like Christmas is a time when people in our family get sick. For some, it’s the pace of work at the end of the year; my sister-in-law who worked in bookstores often collapsed when the stores finally closed for Christmas, for instance. For…
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To love is to pay joyful attention to another in ways that communicate mutual belonging, inherent mattering, and gratitude. After finishing Fr. Greg Boyle’s latest book, Cherished Belonging, I found myself searching for a better definition of love. The classical Christian definition from St. Thomas Aquinas, to love is to will the good of another,…
Reading Francis 