Cambridge MA We are now safely into Fall and so it is really time to clear off my desk of books that came in during the summer that is to say books that were sent to me sometimes from friends or authors I rsquo ve known over the years and sometimes out of the blue In front of me right now ar

Cambridge MA There is an unexpected and excellent reflection on prayer in today rsquo s New York Times Magazine Is there a Right Way to Pray by Zev Chafets It is definitely worth a look and Chafets research speaks for itself nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp All I can do here is share with you a conn

Cambridge MA This is the last of my five planned reflections on my trip to India this time about my research Thanks to everyone who has contacted me through our ldquo comments section rdquo and off-line nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp While I indicated at the start that this was not to be research

Cambridge MA So here is the fourth of my entries on my trip to India this time regarding interreligious dialogue At the end of this entry I will respond to three of the comments you rsquo ve kindly posted in past weeks A good part of my trip was involved in what we can call interreligious di

Cambridge MA This is the third of five reflections on my recent trip to India my 12th or 13th to the subcontinent After some general comments on why I love visiting India and on caste I turn now to one of the simplest and best religious opportunities available to those who visit India and avoid

Cambridge MA In my last entry I promised a series of five reflections on my India trip unless your questions comments prompt a sixth Today I would like to say something about caste in India mdash a reality all around us whenever we travel there I assume for this that you know that caste

Cambridge MA Six weeks ago I told you that I was off to India for five weeks of travel teaching lectures buying some books meeting old friends I termed it a quiet summer mdash since I was doing exactly what I wanted to do And so it was To make amends for my weeks of silence I now offer a

Cambridge MA For some time now I rsquo d been thinking of writing this incidental reflection in early July but I did not imagine that Cambridge would be 60 degrees and soaking in a cold rain as I write So much for summer idylls But I do still want to give you an idea of what a professor actual

Cambridge MA On June 19th feast of the Sacred Heart Pope Benedict inaugurated a ldquo Year for Priests rdquo in keeping with the 150th birth anniversary of St John Vianney the famed Cure d rsquo Ars who is the patron of parish priests Jim Martin SJ mentioned all this in a recent post T

Cambridge MA Years ago when I was a young professor I was asked by a journal editor if I wished to review a certain scholarly book in my field It was the 1980s and email was not yet common so I duly checked off ldquo yes rdquo on the postcard the editor had sent me and mailed it back to hi