He was a soldier of fortune who became a mercenary for the usual reasons: fame, fortune, females. As the youngest son of minor Spanish nobility, there was small prospect of these at home, and his industry and bravery were paying off, when a French canon ball tore open his left calf and broke his right shin. I igo was confined to bed for months, his leg clumsily set, re-broken, and set again. A protruding limb was sawn off. His leg had to be stretched with weights. He passed his long convalescence reading books, either on chivalry or the saints. To his surprise, he began to enjoy the latter, to draw meaning and hope from them. They led to a much deeper Catholicism than Ignatius of Loyola had previously known.

nbsp As they rsquo re wont to do a recent conversation with my Mother moved from Christmas current to Christmases past We were discussing the visits of Santa Claus to our childhood home and Mom remarked ldquo We have plenty of pictures of your sister crying rather than sitting on Santa rsquo

In an interview with Newsday Hugh McGowan described his daughter Anne Marie Murphy fifty-two the married mother of four children as ldquo witty rdquo and ldquo hardworking rdquo an artistic and fun-loving painter The world would know nothing of this special education teacher were it not

He saw a world suffused with goodness he loved it unreservedly and he called forth the best in us Though he came to live among us his was a foreign provenance He came unto his own and they knew him not And of course he walked the whole way mdash as he would often say mdash ldquo first th

nbsp As children we pass a good portion of each year waiting for Christmas nbsp As adults we spend most of our lives remembering Christmases long lost nbsp When I ponder Christmases past I can rsquo t help but to wonder how my parents did it nbsp They both worked forty hours a week in a gr

nbsp No theologian should have the temerity to rewrite revelation It can rsquo t be edited for two reasons First because we confess that revelation is divine in origin The creature cannot correct the creator Secondly revelation can rsquo t be redrafted because revelation is more than a text