Photo Credit: YouTube (Last week’s blog had to be written for publication before the election of the Pope. Therefore, Lily got her column in. Today’s post handles history’s momentous papal election.) Well, I had set up my booth in my little basement office and started taking on a number of people making bets on who would... Continue Reading →

Note: Lily used to offer President Biden’s pets advice on occasion. Since the new president does not have pets, she has reached out to the pets of congresspersons. And wow! did she get responses!! She will write this advice column on occasion when we all need a cheerful lift from the news of the day. Enjoy!... Continue Reading →

Photo Credit: Sistine Chapel Yes, there has to be charity in the process of choosing a pope. You would think that an assembly of men who are leaders in the Church and should have the good of the Church—all its followers, all who take solace and encouragement from its guidance, and yes, all who seek to learn and... Continue Reading →

Photo Credit: Pinterest Next Sunday’s Gospel from John, the Evangelist, highlights another post-Resurrection story of Jesus meeting with his disciples. (I love that John makes sure to mention that Thomas is there. It's almost like saying the ‘bad boy’ who is always absent has come to school today.) The Sea of Tiberias is the same lake... Continue Reading →

Post-Easter is a wonderful time of the Church’s liturgical year. It might be my favorite time of the year. For the disciples, emotions and wondering and questioning abound. So do fear and terror. Gathered in the room where Jesus appears after his resurrection, the disciples talk sotto voce, hardly audible. They pace the floor quietly. Some pray.... Continue Reading →

A few weeks ago, the annual World Happiness Report was published. Among the sources of research and statistical studies that come up with the information are Gallup Poll, University of Oxford’s Well-being Research Center, the U.N. Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the WHR World Happiness Report Editorial Board. That’s a big chunk of credible and reliable sources... Continue Reading →

Have you heard the recent discrediting of ‘empathy’ among political leaders and the far-right Christian churches? It’s been all over the various news outlets, both one side and the other in political persuasion and especially embraced by our Evangelical Christian brothers and sisters. The debate (if you can call it that) has galvanized opposing interpretations... Continue Reading →

The reappearance of Pope Francis in the Vatican last week holds hope for millions of Catholics that he might make more decisions on behalf of the oppressed crying from his to-do-list. Each pope has centralized his pontificate on what he and church officials working with him think the church needs desperately to address from the... Continue Reading →

The week of March 10 was the celebration of Catholic Sisters Week throughout the world. The acknowledgement somehow slipped past me until I started getting lovely notes from former students and other people I had met during my various ministries. I was both humbled and energized. But it got me to reflecting on my life... Continue Reading →

Photo Credit: The University of Akron March is National Women’s Month. I know some people wonder why we celebrate women this month and it’s a fair question if your knowledge of history is a bit shaky. In the wonderful musical, My Fair Lady, professor Henry Higgins confesses to loathing the incursion of women into the... Continue Reading →