It seems that every May brings with it some controversy over the selection of the commencement speaker at one or more Catholic universities.  This year, Cardinal Sean O’Malley announced that he could not attend the commencement ceremony at Boston College because Ireland’s Prime Minister, Enda Kenny, was selected to receive an honorary degree and to deliver the commencement address.  Cardinal O’Malley objected  Read more

If you don’t know that the new Star Trek movie is coming out tomorrow (technically tonight at midnight), you are not a Trekkie.  If don’t know there has been an on-again, off-again leak that the villain in the new movie is Khan Noonien Singh, you are not a class A-Trekkie.  If your faith has not been inspired by Star Trek, or any  Read more

In this month’s Atlantic, Jonathan Rauch profiles Dr. Angelo Volandes’ work to change the way Americans approach death. After realizing that most people facing end of life decisions did not really understand what various treatment options or conditions looked like, Volandes embarked on a mission to produce short, brutally honest films that he could show his patients. Dementia, artificial nutrition and hydration,  Read more

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” (Luke 4:16-19)  Are you prepared for the invasion of Zombie debt?  Read more

On April 18th, the “Naked Pope” made a parade appearance at Carnegie Mellon University’s carnival.  The “naked pope”, if you have not heard, was “a female student dressed as the pope, appeared naked from the waist down and distributed condoms.”  She also shaved her pubic hair into the shape of a cross.  Bishops Zubik brought the matter to the attention of Carnegie  Read more

Over at the Evangelical Channel on Patheos, Adrian Warnock is hosting a conversation about faith and mental illness in honor of the fact that May is Mental Health Awareness month.  Throughout the month, I hope to post blogs to contribute to that conversation, as I believe that it is a crucial conversation for Christians and all people of good will to be  Read more

The death toll from the recent collapse of a clothing factory in Bangladesh has topped 1000, and yesterday brought the story of another fire in a large, 11-story factory. Most workers were gone, but those still there suffocated in the stairwells trying to escape. In the wake of these disasters, there have been reports that companies are suddenly concerned about such issues.  Read more

Regrettably, the topic of infanticide remains stubbornly in the news.  Last week, for instance, we had the release of the LiveAction undercover tapes which seemed to indicate that newborns are at least sometimes refused medical treatment and care after a botched abortion in New York and Washington clinics. Last week also saw the release of the May issue of the Journal of  Read more

Known for elaborate and exciting production, the Metropolitan Opera in New York exudes drama. In a year that celebrates major anniversaries for both Verdi and Wagner, the MET launched new productions of classics like Rigoletto – in part reaching out to the Under-40 audience. With Rigoletto, they hit the jackpot, communicating the tragic injustice and complex layers of social sin and power  Read more

What “progressive economic vision” should CST lead us to endorse? This is a thorny, vexed question, and in particular, I think it is infected by a kind of nostalgia for “the good old days” – that is, the days of rising wages and good work for all, of welfare state expansion – in short, for the economy of the 1950’s and 1960’s.  Read more

The Servant of God Fr. Emil Kapuan was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor today by President Obama, making him the fifth Catholic chaplain to receive this award, the highest military honor given by the US government. Fr. Kapuan’s acts of extraordinary valor took place during the Korean War, where he saved and sustained scores of men on the battlefield and in  Read more

Our society presents several problems facing the parish.  Consumerism or politics tends to be the dominant lens through which we interpret our lives, including our faith.  These frameworks are difficult to change because relationships and communities are hard to sustain.  It takes almost all of our effort just to survive and take care of the ones closest to us. In my previous  Read more

Last week, I participated in a couple of online discussions on why people attend church.  Most church goers suggested that it was about “being renewed” and “getting filled up again” for the week.  These aren’t wrong answers about worship or church, but I find myself wondering if going to church “to be filled” is a strong enough answer, especially in an age  Read more

I was asked, on a radio program yesterday, what I thought the Pope’s legacy would be, and I said I thought he would be “the great Vatican II pope,” one of the youngest theologians who worked at the Council, who summed up all the great theological work which led up to it. Little did I know that the Pope would choose Vatican  Read more

One of the most fortunate things to come by way in recent months was an invitation to become part of “Contending Modernities”, a major interdisciplinary effort to generate new knowledge and greater understanding of the ways in which religious and secular forces interact in the modern world.  In its first phase, the initiative examines how Islam and Catholicism have understood, accommodated, altered,  Read more

Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation from the office of pope took everyone in Rome by surprise.  Perhaps we should not be surprised.  Didn’t Pope Benedict state at the time of his installation that his papacy would be short?  Perhaps Benedict’s actions such as his August 2009 personal visit to the tomb of Pope Celestine V, who also voluntarily stepped down from the papal  Read more

This guest post by Kent Lasnoski, Assistant Professor of Theology at Quincy University, is particularly appropriate given that in yesterday’s Gospel reading we are told of Jesus proclaiming his mission to “set the captives free.” (Lk 4:14-21) Among the most troubling, recent challenges of moral discernment comes to us in the form of the approximately 600,000 human embryos held in cryogenic stasis at  Read more

Many who read this blog will be familiar with David Gushee–the powerhouse Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer. A first rate scholar, he is a member of the board of the Society of Christian Ethics and has published a number of important books–including the recent The Future of Faith in American Politics with Baylor University Press.  A well-known activist, he  Read more

Proverbs 8:22-31 Ps 8:4-5, 6-7, 8-9 Rom 5:1-5 Jn 16:12-15 The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity should be the great crescendo of the Easter Season, the culmination of the revelation of God to His people. In reality, it always falls a little flat. What can we say about the Trinity without lapsing into heresy? The reality of the Trinity is a  Read more

Acts 1:1-11 Psalm 47 Ephesians 1:17-23 Luke 24:46-53 Let’s be honest: it is hard to delve too deeply into the feast of the Ascension without sounding either like a gnostic or a mythologizer. On the one hand, you could say that Jesus simply dissolved himself from the material realm and now dwells in some “higher” realm beyond space and time where we  Read more

Sixth Sunday of Easter – May 5, 2013 Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8; Rev 21:10-14, 22-23; Jn 14:23-29 Last month marked the 50th anniversary of Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth), the encyclical of Pope John XXIII discussing peace and human rights.  It was the first encyclical addressed beyond the Catholic community to “all men of good will.”  And  Read more

Acts 14:21-27 Ps 145:8-9, 10-11, 12-13 Rev 21:1-5a Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35 During the past year, I have become a little obsessed with Catholic “Mommy” blogs which have given me vital insight into raising my own almost-15 month old daughter in the faith. On Sundays, however, most of the blogs I read participate in a link-up called What I Wore Sunday where they  Read more

Acts 13:14, 43-52 Psalm 100 Revelation 7:9, 14b-17 John 10:27-30 In the beginning of the book of Revelation there is a sevenfold series of messages to the churches of Asia minor and each message ends with a promise offered to “the one who conquers.”  The reward is some variation on the theme of salvation offered by Christ, as in “to everyone who  Read more

Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41 Psalm 30 Revelation 5:11-14 John 21:1-19 We are in the thick of the Easter season, and yet nevertheless after contemplating the readings for this Sunday I cannot help but be drawn to the second Beatitude of Matthew 5: “Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” All the readings radiate joy, I know, but the joy is  Read more

Acts 5:12-16 Psalm 118:2-4, 13-15, 22-24 Rev 1:9-11A, 12-13, 17-19 John 20:19-31 “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my fingers into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” In his doubt and in his demand for tangible evidence that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead, Thomas sounds very  Read more

Lectionary 42 Acts 10:34a, 37-43 Ps 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23 Col 3:1-4 Jn 20:1-9 Lent is finally over and now in the Church we feast. And yet we should be changed by our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. We should go on from Easter a little more prayerful, a little more temperate, and a little more charitable. For Christians, the death  Read more

Small children are not the only ones who routinely confuse the word “adultery” with “idolatry.” Even though I presume they know the difference, students in my Intro Bible course often mistakenly use one for the other. Whether it is a Freudian slip I dare not say, but as we discuss both in relation it becomes apparent that the two share more than  Read more