Posted inFaith in Focus

Between Newsroom and Sanctuary

The first thing you should know is that I don’t hug trees. I don’t collect money to save whales. I don’t drive a Volvo. I hate tofu. I don’t attend Upper West Side cocktail parties or drink white wine. And I don’t gather in somebody’s basement in the dead of night

Posted inFaith in Focus

Teach Us to Pray

"Lord, teach us to pray. Are there any words in the Gospel more poignant than these? Here is a phrase that pulls us to the very core of belief – a request that cries out for consolation, instruction, guidance and hope. Throw us a lifeline, Jesus. We need help. Teach us to pray! After two millen

Posted inFrom Our Archives

Of Other Things

The weather was awful, and the forecast was grim: heavy snow, possibly as much as a foot, on one of the coldest and darkest nights of the winter. But inside St. Ephrem’s, a large church in Brooklyn, it was springtime. Something was beginning. Candles were lit, hymns were sung, and 65 men from

Posted inFaith in Focus

Friendship Is a Prayer

Should I feel guilty? The question nagged at me—a good Catholic question, pecking at my conscience as I sat under a shaggy tree on the grounds of a great monastery and listened to the bell as it tolled. It was time to pray. I should have been heading to the church. Others on retreat would be i

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