Reflections on the readings for May 29, 2011 (Sixth Sunday of Easter) So what’s the big deal about the Holy Spirit? In this week’s first reading, we see Peter and John being sent to Samaria so that the people there, who have already been baptized, might receive also the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is all over the Bible but is really Read more
The general conclusion of the recent John Jay College report, The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 1950-2010, was No single “cause” of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests is identified as a result of our research. Social and cultural changes in the 1960s and 1970s manifested in increased levels of deviant Read more
On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered the state of California to reduce its prisoner population because of severe overcrowding. In a 5-4 decision, Justice Anthony Kennedy explained that the state’s failure to meet constitutional requirements has caused “needless suffering and death.” The Brown v. Plata decision is published here by the Los Angeles Times. There has been a lot of fear-based reporting Read more
There is much more to say about this past week’s amazing events at Oxford than I can fit into this blog post, and I will try to do so in a more systematic way once I’ve had some more time to think about everything. For now, let me just share some thoughts along with a a few pictures. Here are two shots Read more
A timeline of events: April 5, 2011 – Paul Ryan’s budget is submitted to the House Budget Committee. April 29, 2011 – Congressman Ryan writes a letter about his budget/fiscal ideas to Archbishop Dolan, partly responding to his January letter to members of Congress. May 11, 2011 – Catholic scholars publish an open letter to Speaker Boehner. May 18, 2011 – Archbishop Read more
I’m betting not, but I’m a believer in “no one knows the day or the hour,” so I’ll acknowledge the possibility. But, in case you’ve missed it, the Christian radio network Family Radio “guarantees” that May 21 is Judgment Day. You can read their considered, extensive, and convoluted arguments (well, gatherings of “evidence”) at the site linked above. Apparently, millions of people Read more
Over at the Faith in Public Life blog, recent entries (like this one on Rick Santorum and torture) manifest a new, interesting rhetorical strategy: to take the language of “pro-life” away from the abortion issue, and apply it more broadly to a range of issues, many of which also involve bodily harm and potential death. To say Rick Santorum or John Boehner Read more
Reflections for May 22, 2011 We are good at labels: conservative versus liberal, red state versus blue state, pro-life versus pro-choice. These labels are often reductive and lacking nuance, and even more often, such labels create unnecessary antagonism in a community, and yet we still use them. As human beings, we are prone to this unfortunate tendency of seeing the world in Read more
Later today I get a on flight to the UK for one of those events that come around once in a lifetime. The McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics and Public Policy at Christ Church, Oxford is putting on a historic conference this Thursday and Friday called ‘Christian Ethics Engages Peter Singer.’ My friend and colleague John Perry (check out his new book Read more
In his May 6th Wall Street Journal essay, Mr. Mukasy, the former Attorney General, claims that the much of the information that led to the killing of bin Laden was the result of “enhanced interrogation techniques.” Consider how the intelligence that led to bin Laden came to hand. It began with a disclosure from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM), who broke like a Read more
Saturday Morning: 8:00 am
Saturday Vigil: 4:30 pm
Sunday: 7:30 am, 9:00 am, 10:45 am,
12:30 pm, 5:30 pm
Saturday Vigil: 6:15pm
Sunday: 9:00am, 7:15pm
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday: 8:30 am
