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 →

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com It occurred to me, in reflection last week, that Jesus never raised a fist exclaiming to his followers: “Fight!” during the crucifixion. He certainly could have done so when arrested in the Garden or hoisted on the cross. In the accurate depictions of the crucifixion, Jesus is nailed at the wrists, his... Continue Reading →

Lent begins this week. Let’s reflect on the theme of forgiveness with two stories that affected me lately. In 1995, a 59-year-old Ursuline Sister of Cleveland, Ohio was raped and murdered in the woods behind her Motherhouse property. Sister Joanne Marie Marsha had been walking in the woods behind her Motherhouse. She was out enjoying... Continue Reading →

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com I have mentioned Pico Iyer before, the travel writer of exotic and far-flung corners of the world, a man with a penchant for beauty and a soul inclined to mysticism. Somewhere inside his restless search to describe the little-known wonders of Tibet, Ethiopia, Cuba, North Korea, and more, is a desire not... Continue Reading →

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, With all your soul, with all your strength, And with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. (Luke 28) These are the lawyer’s words in answer to the question he had asked of Jesus: “How can I inherit eternal life?” Jesus responds that... Continue Reading →

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, With all your soul, with all your strength, And with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. (Luke 28) These are the lawyer’s words in answer to the question he had asked of Jesus: “How can I inherit eternal life?” Jesus responds that... Continue Reading →

Photo Credits: Pixabay.com Last year, maybe even before then, I wrote about loneliness which several health organizations considered an epidemic and still do. England and Japan are two countries that have initiated government agencies specifically on loneliness and how it might be treated medically. A recent spate of articles and media interviews on the subject... Continue Reading →

Portia’s famous and beautiful soliloquy in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, has inspired me, once again, to reflect on the virtue that best describes God’s openness to everyone, an openness burned and purified in love. I re-read the soliloquy in which Portia, pretending to be a lawyer, addresses Shylock the plaintiff, seeking justice for Portia’s friend, Antonio... Continue Reading →

This is me at work, writing.                                    And after a hard day working, I like a cozy nap. You know me, President Biden; I have written to you a few times over the last four years, especially about your pets, German Shepherds Champ and Commander, and the insufferable Willow, the cat. I know you are a kind... Continue Reading →