I grew up in a small New England town with a charming Christmas Eve tradition. The whole town spills onto “God’s Acre”, the town green, each Christmas Eve to sing Christmas carols. It’s a tradition dating back to 1919, making…
It’s been a big week. Super Bowl Sunday. Tie games are not an option; neither is splitting the Vince Lombardi trophy. There are winners and there are losers, with no other options. Americans are good at games. So good, we…
For those of you you are not liturgically minded, here's a little piece of trivia: the Christmas Season lasts from Christmas Eve through Epiphany which is January 6th. If you want to get super technical, through the Baptism of the…
In the very first book of the Bible, we discover something essential about hospitality. It’s not optional. When strangers pass by Abraham and Sarah’s dwelling, Abraham quickly provides provisions, food and drink, a place to wash and stay. In Abraham’s…
I started wearing a safety pin on my lapel after the election. My friend Rex mentioned that the pins offered an invitation to people who are afraid that you’re ready to help them. Some people in Great Britain started wearing…
Humor me. It’s an old story and you’ve heard it a thousand times. Jesus has just finished telling his followers “You must love your God with all your heart, with all your soul, all your strength and all your mind…
On Friday after work, my wife and I shared a picnic in the early evening shade at the Arboretum, watching kids climbing on rocks near the waterfall. After living through what one newscaster called a “week of violence and sorrow,”…
“Save Us from the Time of Trial.” The Lord’s Prayer Jason Gay has a fine article in the Wall Street Journal about a skyscraper climb of One World Trade Center. Nearly 1,000 friends and family of the first responders who died…
Every so often, a parable appears in the newspaper. Last week, The New York Times published a story about a homeless man who had been living in his car on a residential street in Brooklyn for a year. Gene doesn’t…
The Religious Education Congress of the Los Angeles Archdiocese was a sunburst of sensation for two Minnesotans freshly arrived from winter. Visiting LA Congress for the first time, we soaked up the experience of 45,000 people in renewal during this…
