Columns
The loveliness of Ordinary Time
As summertime flows into fall, and pumpkin spice everything fills the senses —whether we wish it or not! – here can be wistful nostalgia for summer.
A back-to-school Q&A with Jesus
On the last Sunday of August, at my home parish of St. Francis de Sales in Spooner, the universal Catholic Church was uniquely represented. My subsequent reflections have shaped this back-to-school season, renewed my appreciation for a lifelong love of learning and seem a relevant commentary at the start of a new academic year.
Mary, Mother of Life, pray for us!
As I ponder this year’s Respect Life theme – “Mary, Mother of Life, pray for us!” – I can’t help but wonder who Mary is to each of us. Do we imagine her as Jesus’ mother?
Mourning in Ordinary Time
This season, with somber hearts, we mark 25 years since achingly bright September skies were filled with the horrors of an evil still incomprehensible.
May God continue to bless our Catholic schools
It’s hard to believe that the new school year is starting already. The beautiful summer we’ve had has gone by so fast, and once again our Catholic schools are filling with the energy, excitement and promise of a new year.
When are we home?
More than anything else, we long for home. Our deep ache for intimacy, security and comfort is, in the end, a longing for home, nothing more. We are forever restlessly searching for someone or something to take us home.
Influencers of Ordinary Time
Recently, a youthful acquaintance shared with me his future career ambition to be “an influencer.” As a sign of my ever-increasing age, I was skeptical that the full-time influencer life is “a thing” for anyone other than celebrities.
Good conversation
Louisa May Alcott’s “Rose in Bloom” was my favorite book in middle school – similar to her more popular “Little Women,” but featuring a group of cousins instead of siblings, and less sad – and a reference to the wisdom of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essays led to my reading and admiring Emerson.
Invitations in Ordinary Time
Summer in Washington D.C. means many things. A quieter pace. Notoriously humid weather. A flood of summer interns. And droves of tourists!