Columns
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To the friends I’ve known
Aug 01, 2018
Recently, reading Commonweal magazine, I was struck by this line by Jerry Ryan, a Little Brother of Jesus: “I have lost contact with so many people who meant a lot to me at different stages of my life, people I loved dearly and really cared for and who had given me so much and made me what I am.”
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After 50 years, it’s finally time to consider the wisdom of ‘Humanae Vitae’
Jul 30, 2018
On July 25, 1968 – in the midst of the “sexual revolution” which aggressively promoted premarital sex, pornography, homosexual activity and artificial contraception – Pope Paul VI with the courage of a prophet gave the Catholic Church and world an entirely different message.
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A slur that cuts deep
Jul 26, 2018
He’s a loser! You’re a loser! Among all the hurtful slurs we mindlessly utter, this particular one is, perhaps, the most hurtful and damaging. It needs to be forbidden in our public discourse and stricken from our vocabulary.
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As Romero approaches canonisation, his legacy lives on
Jul 26, 2018
When I first saw the video on WhatsApp of a bishop speaking in a church about extrajudicial killings in the Philippines with such obvious courage, the first thing that ran through my mind is “Oscar Romero lives again,” this time not in El Salvador but in Asia.
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Consecrated celibacy — an apologia
Jul 20, 2018
Huston Smith, the renowned commentator on world religions, submits that you should not judge a religion by its worst expressions, but by its best, its saints. That’s also true in terms of judging the merits of vowed, consecrated celibacy. It should be judged by its best, not perverse, examples, as is true too for the institution of marriage.
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Lessons in solidarity from the Tham Luang cave rescue drama
Jul 20, 2018
Much of the world was held spellbound by the drama of the 12 boys and their coach who were trapped in treacherous flooded caves in northern Thailand from June 23 to July 10, 2018.
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Real miracles
Jul 13, 2018
Ralph Waldo Emerson calls the stars in the night sky “envoys of beauty, lighting the universe with their astonishing smile” and submits that if they appeared for a single night only every thousand years, we’d be on our knees in worship and would cherish the memory for the rest of our lives.
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Restoring paradise: The Garden of Bethlehem
Jul 13, 2018
Remember Joni Mitchell’s famous Big Yellow Taxi song, which we discussed here a few weeks ago, especially its haunting lament
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The Mary of Scripture and the Mary of Devotions
Jul 06, 2018
There’s an axiom that says: Roman Catholics tend to adore Mary while Protestants and Evangelicals tend to ignore Mary. Neither is ideal.
Sunday Reflection
Second Sunday of Lent: On being transfigured
Today’s readings help us to refocus on the spiritual in our lives, to refocus on the mystical. The mystery of God has entered human history in the covenant God made with this wandering Armenian, Abram, whom He now names Abraham.
