Francis X. Clooney, S.J.

Marlborough MA I was invited to speak last evening at an appearance in one of the Boston suburbs of the famous modern Indian teacher Mata Amritanandamayi literally ldquo the mother rdquo ldquo the one entirely composed of bliss in the imperishable rdquo mdash Amma mother who tours the

Cambridge MA As you know from my last blog I am way behind on current events insofar as I ever catch up due to a very busy June and most recently my retreat near Dublin Much that I would have written can be allowed to pass without observable loss However I did want to return to the item not

Cambridge MA I am just back from a month of travels and offer that as my excuse for being absent from In All Things these past weeks Nothing exotic mdash academic conferences and seminars in Chicago Cleveland Atlanta mdash but then off to Dublin Ireland for lectures at the Irish School o

Chicago Once again the opportunity to blog for America puts me in the position of commenting on topics beyond my expertise but I cannot let pass without mention the 700th anniversary of the death of Marguerite Porete the medieval Christian mystic who was condemned for heresy and burnt at the stak

Cambridge MA May 27 was graduation day at Harvard a splendid ceremonial event as well as occasion of myriad smaller personal and family instances of celebration and thanksgiving as a truly global community descended upon Harvard Yard for the main ceremonies But of still greater interest to me

Cambridge MA As you know from many lsquo fusion rsquo blogs I do not neatly separate out my weekend ministry as a priest and my work as a Catholic theologian who tries to learn deeply from Hinduism Another crossover moment is our current feast Pentecost As we hear in the first reading the

Cambridge MA It is an understatement to notice that we rsquo ve been going through some hard times in the Church and the crises are well documented in In All Things We must all be hoping and praying that the Church ourselves included undergo some renewal and fresh gust of Spirit at Pentecost

Cambridge MA A comment on my last blog was memorable ldquo Fr Looney seems to hold a fascination for everything but Catholicism rdquo Spelling is abominable these days But more importantly the writer seemed to juxtapose two disconnected fascinations one for things Catholic and one for o

Cambridge MA I rsquo ve been wandering a bit in the last few weeks inside outside around the edges of the Church Part of it had to do with actual travel trips to Washington DC Santa Clara California and New York City but much of it was movement in a mental space in a series of conversati

Cambridge MA You may recall from Jim Martin rsquo s kind notice in January that on July 1 I will become director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard I haven rsquo t done a thing yet but the Center moves along steadily and indeed has become venerable this week marking it