-
Headlong Into The Pudding
Many of us, I am sure, are concerned that Christmas has become too much of a secular and commercial event. Stores put up Christmas decorations in late October, Santa Claus
-
They Were Moral Lovers
This summer one of my sisters died. As much as we all miss her, none of us, including her own children, feels her absence as much as does her husband.
-
Life’s Incessant Longing
All life is fired by longing. The simplest of plants and the highest of human love have this in common—yearning, restlessness, a certain insatiable pressure to eat, to grow, to
-
A Sensual Heaven
Andrew Greeley once suggested that we might profitably meditate the following vision of heaven: “What will the resurrection be like? . . . The condition of physical ecstasy and emotional
-
Blessed By Being Seen
To really see someone, especially someone who looks up to you, is to give that person an important blessing. In a gaze of recognition, of understanding, in an appreciative look,
-
Truth Comes Tainted
“Sometimes I think the whispering in the ward at night sounds very Catholic. Perhaps that’s why I think so much about you (Mother). You were my religion for so many
-
A Humbled Heart
In his latest book, The Return of the Prodigal Son, Henri Nouwen suggests that one of the main things that has to happen in order for us to come to
-
Your Dad Only Dies Once
It’s a hard thing going through life without adequate self-expression. How painful not to be an artist, not to be able to draw or paint or carve into stone or
-
Therapy of Public Life
Twenty five years ago, Philip Rieff wrote a very important book entitled The Triumph of the Therapeutic. In it, he argued that widespread reliance upon private therapy arose in the
-
Truth and Beauty
In a recent interview, Mary Gordon, one of the brightest young novelists in America, commented on the Catholicism that she was raised on and how she feels about the church