Our Daily Bread
The year of the Eucharist, inaugurated by Pope John Paul II in October 2004, will conclude with the meeting this month of the World Synod of Bishops in Rome. This assembly of bishops will also mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Synod of Bishops. While post-synodal papal exhortatio
Christ Among Us
The Gospels are filled with stories of Jesus sharing meals not only with his disciples but also with many others, whether important or lowly. Indeed, table fellowship was one of the frequent events by which the disciples experienced their personal relationship with Christ. After the resurrection, th
Not Where, But Why
In the task of designing church interiors, one of the most neuralgic issues is the placement of the tabernacle. Behind the altar? To the side of the altar? In a separate chapel? In recent years, the visual prominence of the tabernacle, not the centrality of the altar, seems to have become for some t
Sending Us Forth
The working document, or instrumentum laboris, for the World Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist that meets this month in Rome begins with a beautiful reflection on the symbolic meaning of bread for the life of the world. This reflects the grave concern expressed by readers of an early draft about the
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
"When you are old, another will gird you and lead you where you do not wish to go” (Jn 21:18). So Jesus prophesied St. Peter’s death in old age. The saying, however, has always had a gnomic quality for me, as if it applied in some sense to us all. No exegete I have read…
Letters
Letters
Thinking People
You can only blame yourselves! As a Jesuit-trained scientist (Holy Cross, 1959; Ph.D. in physics from U.C.L.A., 1965), I was trained to use my Little Gray Cells (5/30) in a continual challenge of hypotheses, no matter how enticing, no matter how vigorously promulgated by respected authorities. It worked for me in a satisfying career…
Editorials
Failure of Leadership
The United Nations summit meeting has ended. On the whole, the outcome of the deliberations of nearly 170 world leaders was disappointing. Secretary General Kofi Annan commented, "Obviously, we didn’t get everything we wanted." In particular, he called the absence of any commitments
Film
Faces and Flowers: Broken Flowers
Broken Flowers needs no narrative. Bill Murray’s face says it all: unspeakably sad eyes that might once have had the twinkle of a comedian, pitted jowls and a mouth far too small and puffy for a face grown larger as his forehead nudges his hairline backwards. He stares intently at his huge pla
The Word
Food! Glorious Food!
A scene in ldquo Oliver rdquo the musical based on Charles Dickens rsquo s classic tale Oliver Twist depicts a crowd of ragged starving urchins celebrating the pleasures of eating ldquo Food Glorious food rdquo Deprived as they were they certainly appreciated the delight of food perhaps
Columns
A Lesson in Perspective
Perspective is not among the virtues generally associated with youth. Like aching joints and sagging midsections, perspective is what you get when, like St. Paul, you at last put away the things of childhood. If, however, you paid close attention to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (and who didn&r
Culture
John’s Gospel Revisited
In October 2003 I was part of a scholarly meeting that honored the memory and accomplishments of Raymond E. Brown, S.S. It was entitled “An International Conference on the Gospel of John: Life in Abundance,” and held at St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, where Brown s
Faith
Food! Glorious Food!
A scene in ldquo Oliver rdquo the musical based on Charles Dickens rsquo s classic tale Oliver Twist depicts a crowd of ragged starving urchins celebrating the pleasures of eating ldquo Food Glorious food rdquo Deprived as they were they certainly appreciated the delight of food perhaps
News
Signs of the Times
Jordanian King Abdullah Criticizes Hijacking of Islam by Violent and Ignorant Extremists’Muslim political and religious leaders must fight to take back our religion from the vocal, violent and ignorant extremists who have tried to hijack Islam over the last 100 years, said King Abdullah II of
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts