Watershed moments are seldom recognized as such at the moment they occur nbsp Usually it takes time to discern which way the water is flowing nbsp I didn rsquo t realize that my young life had reached such a moment with the arrival of my fourth grade teacher nbsp ldquo I am Sister Digna a Si

Even the earliest Christians realized that we live in two realms mdash one secular another sacred mdash and that neither can easily be separated from the other Often they are opposed but sometimes one can profitably learn from the other This year the Solemnity of Pentecost coincides with the

America its citizens boast has always been a religious nation New York Times columnist Ross Douthat would agree noting that even now interest in Christianity is far from dormant in America not with people like Joel Osteen Glen Beck and Oprah Winfrey growing rich preaching their respective go

One early summer evening shortly after the end of the school term my Dad rather solemnly mdash so it seemed to me mdash took the training wheels off my bike Then while he mowed the lawn my Mom and I slowly walked my two-wheeled test to the school playground at the end of our block I was go

Twenty-eight years of preaching Mother rsquo s Day sermons will seriously deplete one rsquo s supply of stories This year not having recently read anything useful that featured a mother I did what I always do when desperate nbsp I called home nbsp nbsp nbsp ldquo Hello rdquo my mom said

Robert Bolt rsquo s play about the martyrdom of Saint Thomas More A Man for All Seasons has seen a lot of them come and go since its premiere in 1960 perhaps because so much of its dialogue is worth the remembering Consider this scene Richard Rich the man who will betray him has just left Mor

Strange where generations divide I rsquo m an earlier version of humanity one without the opposable thumbs needed for texting When a younger colleague taught me to text I asked why I would want to do it ldquo Wouldn rsquo t it be easier to telephone rdquo ldquo Easier for the thumbs harde

Nothing better illustrates the radical novelty of the resurrection and its implications for religious life then to juxtapose a famous sardonic quote from the dying Socrates and a seemingly insignificant act of the resurrected Jesus nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbs

Do you remember this scene from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Harry discovers that the diary he rsquo s found ldquo writes back to him rdquo Harry sat on his four-poster and flicked through the blank pages not one of which had a trace of scarlet ink on it Then he pulled a new bottle