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A Chance to meet the Lynx’s Eye
Soren Kierkegaard once commented in a letter to a friend how frustrating it is trying to communicate: “What I require is a voice as piercing as a lynx’s eye, as
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The Real Christmas Story
Among John Shea’s poems, one finds a little piece entitled: Sharon’s Christmas Prayer. It reads: She was five, sure of the facts, and recited them with
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Curing Fire By Fire
In his Four Quartets, T.S. Eliot contrasts two kinds of fire: The only hope, or else despair Lies in the choice of pyre or pyre – To be redeemed from
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The Monasticism Of Daily Life
David Steindl-Rast once commented that leisure is not the privilege of those who have time, but rather the virtue of those who give to each instant of life the time
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Social Justice And Contemplation
Some years ago, Ernst Kasemann, the Scripture scholar, commented that the problem with the church is that, chronically, the liberals aren’t pious and the pious aren’t liberal. If only, he
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Romero Died Before He Was Killed
On March 24, 1980, Salvadoran Archbishop, Oscar Romero, was assassinated as he celebrated the Eucharist. A recent film, Romero (Paulist Films – Cineplex Odeon), excellently depicts the interplay of forces
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High Season For Religion Foes
These are tough days for those who believe in the institutional church and in organized religion. Daily our newscasts document incidents of sin, corruption, abused power, misguided fanaticism, and betrayed
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Soft Peddling The Truth?
Several years ago, during the question period following a talk I had given, I was asked a series of questions about morality, sin, confession, and forgiveness. I began my response
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Romance Gives Inkling Of Heaven
Recently a Canadian poet, J.S. Porter, published a book of poems under the title, The Thomas Merton Poems (Moonstone Press, 1988). His claim is that these poems Merton might have
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Pedophilia Raises Hard Questions
This article will, I fear, upset a number of people. Something needs to be said, but, given the levels of hurt, disillusionment, bitterness, anticlerical glee, vicarious over-identification, and just simple