The petals were dusty yellow and flecked with white. They emerged with timid strength from a nearly invisible crack in the blacktop of a nondescript driveway. In the midst of the dark pavement, a spunky petunia bloomed.

Independence is on my mind as we celebrate Independence Day, recalling that time when our founders deemed it “necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another.”

While in our culture, the comment “women are a mystery” is often seen as a misogynistic quip, it’s actually completely correct.

Many of my deepest childhood memories are the timeless ones about family traditions, school events, summer vacations, late 1970s fashions, my cat, and adventures with friends.

Fr. John Gerritts Pastor, St. Patrick, Hudson Editor’s note: [...]

Years ago, a baby elephant was born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. Since I lived within walking distance of this newborn neighbor, I grew surprisingly attached to him.

Over the past year or so, I have been blessed with the opportunity to attend a number of beautiful Catholic weddings. Most of my close friends (and some of my siblings) are now of a marrying age, and it has been a joy to see many of them starting new lives with their spouses.

In every community of faith – as in any other society or family – there are always those who take on roles of enormous yet underappreciated significance.

I am sure many of you are familiar with the television series about the life of Jesus called “The Chosen.”

I was raised a Roman Catholic and essentially inhaled the religious ethos of Roman Catholicism.