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    C.S. Lewis, the Cambridge medievalist and philosopher, had a rule-of-thumb: Read two old books for every new one. By so doing, one can avoid “chronological snobbery,” by which he meant unreflectively assuming we know better than those who have gone before us. We are... Read More →

    The gospel reading for the second Sunday in Lent, this year on February 25 in the “Common Lectionary” (used by Catholics and several other churches), comes from St. Mark’s account of the transfiguration of Jesus, who took Peter, James, and John up a “high mountain”... Read More →

  What is Lent? The Collect for Ash Wednesday Mass gives us the answer: “Grant, O Lord, that we may begin with holy fasting this campaign of Christian service, so that, as we take up battle against spiritual evils, we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint.” This... Read More →

  Last year my pastoral role required me to take issue with one of our local pro-life organizations. Their leader had invited a notorious Catholic firebrand to speak, and I expressed my dissatisfaction with the choice. The leader retorted, “But he takes a strong pro-life... Read More →

    A teenager was murdered in a mass shooting at his school in 2018. By 2020, his parents had founded a nonprofit which, among other things, produced a political commercial. The ad opens with an introduction by the parents. Then these words appear on the screen: “We... Read More →

    It has been almost thirty years since I met Derek, but I can still hear his mother’s words echoing in my mind. “This is Derek,” she said as her cherubic looking toddler looked up at me, “He’ll be trouble.” I wondered, in that moment, how a mother could choose to... Read More →

    Preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching. 2 Timothy 4:2 (RSV) Hundreds of thousands of abortions occur each year in the United States. Many of the women (and men) involved in these... Read More →

    In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, I thought I’d offer some quotes from his “Letter from the Birmingham Jail,” written from a prison cell to the clergy in 1963. Parts of the letter have become well known, such as King’s insistence that “Injustice... Read More →

    The twelve days of Christmas end on January 6, the feast of the Epiphany, which celebrates “wise men from the east” (Matthew 2:1) coming to worship the child Jesus in Bethlehem. They are commonly called “Three Kings,” but the Bible doesn’t call them that and doesn’t... Read More →

  The opening verse of Psalm 96 provides a fitting message as we begin the Year of the Lord 2024: “O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth!” To sing a new song is to give voice to a new tune and lyrics. Something not heard before will now be offered to... Read More →