peace
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We have a snake in our backyard. He’s a 2-3 foot black racer, and he likes to hang out on the rocks by our garden hoses, so I call him Rocky. I had a pet grass snake for a little while when I was young, so I don’t mind Rocky. April is another story. I’ve
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How do we treat a traitor? Trust in institutions is broad and deep. We distrust almost everyone, it seems, and along with that distrust comes the feeling that people are betraying us, selling us out for power or wealth. Maybe it’s insurance executives delaying and denying claims so they can pocket more profit, or private
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Pope Leo has asked Catholics to pray the rosary every day in October as a call for peace. I’ve never really been one to pray the rosary. As a convert, I didn’t grow up with the devotion, and I’m still pretty sure I don’t have the whole order of prayers quite right. Beyond that, rote
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The Bible readings that Catholics use at Mass this week are an interesting mix that, taken together, seem to underscore that God sees things very differently than the culture around us does. There’s a passage from Paul’s first letter to Timothy that actually shows up twice, in the Monday daily Mass and then again this
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Do you trust me? I don’t know if you ever have this experience, but I have found that some themes, questions, and challenges keep coming back to me, generally because I haven’t satisfactorily addressed them before. How many times have we committed to getting to Mass early, or at least on time? How many times
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If our new American pope, Leo XIV, has a theme in these too-early-for-definition days of his papacy, it is the theme of peace. His first remarks after election began with a call to peace, and he has been a consistent and vocal advocate for peace amidst the growing strife of our decidedly unpeaceful world. As
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Better him than me. Before I dig into something Pope Leo XIV said to the College of Cardinals over the weekend in another post, I just wanted to take a moment of gratitude that I don’t have his job. Today he had a meeting with some of the 6,000 accredited media who have been covering
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Who can tell you, successfully, that you’re living life wrong? I’ve been thinking about this question in relation to the Gospel story of the “rich young ruler” found in Mark 10, as well as in relation to our current cultural divisions in America. The Gospel story, in short, is this: a rich young man comes
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Castle, caravan, or cookout? Some people see the Church, and the Country, as a castle. A fortress with fortifications constructed to protect the good from the evil. The good people from the evil people. The good values, society, norms, history from the decadent. The Truth from Lies. The Pure from spoil. Usually, it seems, the
Reading Francis 