The full story of how Jesus Christ came to be born includes elements that we do not easily imagine when we sing our Christmas hymns.

Our motherhouse is located on a large property in a tiny village in rural France. With its old stone buildings, expansive pastures, flower gardens and shaded pathways, it’s a gorgeously bucolic setting and the most peaceful place I’ve ever been.

Fifty years ago, on an overcast, cold, fall day in the gymnasium of the local public high school, I was ordained to the priesthood.

When I was a kid, I was fascinated by magnets. I loved to watch the little magnetic skaters glide across a mirror in our family’s Christmas village at the flip of a switch and I enjoyed doing science experiments with magnets and iron shavings in school.

The Second Vatican Council, convened by Pope John XXIII to address the role of the church in the modern world, was an epic event when it opened Oct. 11, 1962.

This is first in a series of articles submitted by the Diocese of Superior to educate readers and commemorate the church’s Eucharistic Revival.

Robert Browning, John Lennon and Pope Francis. What could a Victorian-era poet, a 20th-century rock star and a 21st-century pope possibly have in common?

At the end of the day, all of us, believers and non-believers, pious and impious, share one common humanity, and we all end up on the same road. This has many implications.

The Belgian theologian Jan Walgrave, who directed my doctoral thesis, was a true intellectual and a rare one. True, in that his thought naturally, instinctually gravitated towards the huge philosophical questions of essence and existence. Why are we here? Who are we really?