Photo Credit: Pixabay.com I must assert up front that it is not wrong to question Scripture. You do not denounce Scripture by questioning it provided that your questioning leads to research, discussion, and analysis with the assurance of persons steeped in scholarship of the Word. Scripture is meant to teach us and doing so, we... Continue Reading →

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com What does the world need now? Ask this of your friends and associates. I am guessing the top answer today might be ‘peace.’ Others will say, ‘unity.’ Each of these is true; we need each. But is there a durable, constant root answer that actually spawns peace and unity? In 1963, American composer... Continue Reading →

Cleveland Guardians Logo As baseball season is ending, I'm happily aware that the Cleveland Guardians are in the Central Division Playoffs of the American League. Some pundits say they have a great chance to go all the way to the World Series. I'm very hopeful for that. If they do get that far, chances are they will face the... Continue Reading →

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com I came across an essay in Gerhard Lohfink’s most recent, and sadly his last book, All My Springs Are in You, which I would like to use as a basis for this blog. If you are a consistent reader of the blog, you know that I often use Lohfink’s expressed spirituality and theological thinking... Continue Reading →

Photo Credit: Sisters of Charity, Cincinnati I'm sitting in a chapel pew with my fellow-jubilarians a few weeks ago on a summer Sunday morning as rays of sunlight gently stream through the windows and fall on the gathering crowd below. We older jubilarians are sitting in the front pews because we have walkers and wheelchairs... Continue Reading →

Photo Credit: Wikipedia One of my favorite characters in the Christian Scriptures is Nicodemus, the Pharisee, rabbi, member of the Sanhedrin who stealthily observes Jesus before going to see him in the darkness of night. His story is told only in the Gospel of John. Scripture scholar Fr. Bruce Vawter explains that in this gospel, what seems... Continue Reading →

Lately the news reports of American life have been getting a bit neurotic as outlets cover the election campaign, now in full throttle. But it strikes me as comforting that one candidate is earning attention as the “joy-filled candidate.” Imagine! A real person being described as a witness to one of the fruits of the Holy... Continue Reading →

This time of year, is always nostalgic for us retired teachers and anyone who worked in a school environment. A woman who ran our high school cafeteria for many years still attends the class reunions embracing the women who attend just as she did when acting as a surrogate mom while dishing out the spaghetti... Continue Reading →

Have you ever thought of listing the over-used words and phrases you encounter daily? Some language experts refer to many over-used words as ‘brain fog,’ or ‘stream of consciousness word pauses,’ or ‘brainless or emotionless’ vocabulary. Not long ago, teenagers fell into the word swamp with ‘like.’ Consider this brief conversation: “He said, you have to come... Continue Reading →

Photo Credit: Mary Ann Flannery, SC You may have heard about the tornadoes that touched down in Northeast, Ohio last week. The National Weather Report indicated that four E1 Tornadoes swirled through towns, uprooting trees, shaving off roofs and disabling power to over 300,000 residences in their path. We were one of those households. Sister Helen... Continue Reading →