peace
-
There’s no place like home. This passage from Isaiah (65:17-21), which is the Old Testament reading for mass today (March 16, 2026), is meant to be a promise of hope. The image it presents – an entirely new reality, in which the past tears are wiped away and only joy exists, where no child dies…
-
I took piano lessons when I was a kid for four or five years. I wasn’t good at it, but I learned to read music and could make my way through “Für Elise,” the “Star Wars” theme, “Send in the Clowns,” the theme to “Endless Love”. You know, the classics. But I never liked to…
-
In light of the war between the United States (and Israel) and Iran, I’ve been hearing a lot of references within Catholic circles to “just war” doctrine, the teaching of the Church that relates to armed conflict between nations. This doctrine dates back to St. Ambrose and St. Augustine in the first few centuries of…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
Reading Francis 