To live as a faithful Catholic in the world means to always and everywhere honor Christ as King of the Universe – and to love and share Christian truth, even in the political arena. 2020 has felt like a tumultuous year. Some might even say I’m understating it a bit. Read more…
It’s that time again when car commercials take a backseat to campaign ads and red, white and blue yard signs sprout like patriotic mushrooms on lawns, letting us know who’s asking for our vote to send them to Pierre or Washington. Yet it’s not just a time to passively hunker Read more…
At a recent Sunday Mass, my parish priest joyfully announced that those children “who have attained the age of reason will be receiving their First Holy Communion today.” My eldest daughter, Frances, was among them. Franny wore my wife’s godmother’s vintage dress, and my wife made her a flower-topped veil. Read more…
I recently attended a panel discussion of advance medical planning at a conference organized by health care workers. Advance medical planning encompasses those legal tools that we can use to prepare for a time when, due to illness or other incapacity, we cannot make care decisions on our own. This Read more…
This month we celebrated 242 years since the founding of our nation through the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Amidst the fun of fireworks, parades, and festivity, it’s easy to gloss over what it is we’re celebrating, the anniversary of a historic launching of a great experiment in self-government. Read more…
Religious freedom is as American as apple pie and baseball. My wife makes the world’s best apple pie, and I love to root for the home team. However, if I had to pick one of these three as absolutely essential to the health of our country, it’s not a difficult Read more…
I spent last Saturday afternoon with my hands in the dirt. My wife and I just bought a house in town, near where I work and where we worship. It’s about a hundred years old and needs some attention, but it’s got good bones, as they say. The level yard Read more…
“The rural family needs to regain its rightful place at the heart of the social order.” Why? I’ve been pondering these insistent words written by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006 since I first read them several years ago. Why is it so important that the rural family return to its proper place, Read more…