Noted columnist David Brooks caught my attention! In a September 2023 reflection in the Atlantic Monthly (Subscription required), he wrote Over the past eight years or so, I’ve been obsessed with two questions.  The first is: Why have Americans become so sad? … My second, related question is: Why have Americans become so mean? 

Men and women may have different associations with the word “labor.” Men might think of labor in terms of a “ job.” Women might be more inclined to think of the “labor”in the context of giving birth. Today, I want to explore a deeper meaning of what we call Labor Day.

Have you noticed? Mary never seems to age!

Shakespeare wrote “What’s in a name?  A rose is a rose by any other name.” What someone or something is called or labeled is arbitrary compared to their or its intrinsic qualities.

Yes! I figuratively rubbed shoulders with some 2000 bishops inside St. Peter’s! There are not many left who can say that.

In this Vincentian Mindwalk I invite you to explore some of the ways our memories help us understand Jesus asking us to “do this in memory of me.”

Fires are burning faster and hotter than ever before, and complex socio-economic factors are resulting in more people being affected by the effects of smoke, debris flows and other wildfire effects.

The question, “Mary did you know” dates from 1984.  Mark Lowry wrote the the lyrics for “Mary, Did You Know?” I find the lyrics raise questions I did not know I wanted to ask Mary.

In the American literary classic, Rip Van Winkle fell asleep in the Catskill Mountains and woke up 20 years later, having missed the American Revolution.

Many years ago, I had the privilege of visiting the Vatican Museum of Modern Art with an accomplished artist. I thought I knew it well.