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September 2025

September 14, 2025

Remembering a Good and Faithful Servant

Father Kilian McDonnell OSB died last week at the age of 103. His funeral this...

August 2025

August 15, 2025

Owls, Penguins, and Joy

Just about fifteen years ago, on a beautiful summer morning very similar to the ones...

July 2025

July 16, 2025

Remembering a Friend After a Decade

I was reminded by email a couple of days ago that it has been a...

December 2024

December 08, 2024

Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant

I was saddened to hear a couple of days ago that Fr. Wilfred Thiesen died...

May 2024

May 26, 2024

The Trinity Walks into a Bar . . .

Next to Lent, the part of the liturgical calendar that I have always found least...

May 12, 2024

Ascension Day and the Olympics

The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris are coming soon! On this Ascension Sunday I am...

August 2023

August 27, 2023

The Great Homesickness We Could Never Shake Off

The first draft of my first sabbatical book project is completed, minus the introduction and...

June 2023

June 22, 2023

How to Drink Coffee Like a Stoic

If you are fond of a cup, say “I am fond of a cup!” For...

June 04, 2023

Good Times with the Trinity

It’s Trinity Sunday. Don’t worry, I’m not going to try to explain that very strange...

May 2023

May 23, 2023

Where I have Been and Where I am Going

Providence College’s commencement exercises were two days ago. As I walked out of the Amica...

September 2022

September 15, 2022

This Book Changed My Life: Kathleen Norris’ “The Cloister Walk”

I asked my Facebook friends at the beginning of the summer to list three or...

August 2022

August 07, 2022

This Book Changed My Life: Marilynne Robinson’s “Gilead”

I asked my Facebook friends a while ago to list three or four books that...

June 2022

June 07, 2022

How Should a Normal Person Approach the Bible?

I recently came across a great podcast called “The Bible for Normal People,” hosted by...

May 2022

May 28, 2022

Passing the Baton: An Ascension Sunday Reflection

A disturbingly common mishap in recent Summer Olympic games has been the failure of U.S....

May 26, 2022

Swallowing the Mystery

In her wonderful memoir Take This Bread, Sara Miles tells us of a conversation she had...

April 2022

April 12, 2022

Jewish Holy Man Kills Innocent Fig Tree In a Fit of Temper

A bit over a decade ago, I spent spent the early months of the year...

March 2022

March 09, 2022

Confessions of a Tree Hugger

For the twenty-five-plus years that Jeanne and I have lived in our house, the lot...

January 2022

January 02, 2022

In the Beginning was the Word

In the beginning was the Word . . . and the Word was made flesh,...

December 2021

December 21, 2021

When Your Favorite Thing Breaks

If you are fond of a cup, say “I am fond of a cup!” For...

September 2021

September 07, 2021

When Life Gets Messy

We all know that when life hands you a lemon that you should make lemonade....

May 2021

May 29, 2021

The Trinity and Adult Beverages: A Reflection on Trinity Sunday

Next to Lent, the part of the liturgical calendar that I have always found least...

May 18, 2021

Twelve Years Ago, My Life Changed–here’s why

Exactly twelve years ago today, I headed home from a four-month sabbatical as a Resident...

May 13, 2021

Jesus, Ascension Day, and the Olympics

It is a reminder of the world we have been living in for more than...

April 2021

April 24, 2021

The Bible is Not the Word of God

Either the Bible is true or it isn’t, either it’s God’s inspired inerrant word or...

January 2021

January 10, 2021

When Selective Amnesia is a Good Thing

Tolerance, acceptance, and embracing difference--even in the face of established tradition and clear procedures--has been...

January 01, 2021

It’s a New Year. Thank God.

There are few things that everyone can agree on these days, but here's one: 2020...

December 2020

December 19, 2020

We Are the Hands and Feet of God

I begin with a couple of stories. Story #1: There has been vigorous debate on...

December 05, 2020

Are You the One Who Is to Come?

The great but incredibly difficult German philosopher Immanuel Kant, in a rare moment of clarity,...

August 2020

August 25, 2020

O God, Come to My Assistance

Classes begin at my college next Monday, and the stress levels among the faculty (and...

July 2020

July 30, 2020

When a Child of the Universe Dies

One of the few bright spots during the past months of COVID-19 seclusion and insanity...

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