I recently received a video attached to a text message from my youngest son that showed him and his girlfriend in Hawaii. They were accompanied by my daughter and her family, as well as his girlfriend’s brother. They were on a beach trying not to get too wet as the waves pounded on the shore
The Diocese of Erie is located in North Western Pennsylvania. This is the heart of the “rust belt”. years ago a lot of industry was located here. It was in this region that the oil industry had its beginning and the bulk of the steel industry was located for many years. In recent decades however
After some 46 years of political game playing it appears that there is some movement on the issue of abortion. The goal has been to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision of the Supreme Court which established abortion as a right. This has been a political football that politicians have tossed around for decades to
Back in the 90’s one of my favorite comedians was Mike Warnke. He was a Christian comedian, in that a lot of his humor was from the perspective of Christian belief and practice. He usually used the humor to get across a Gospel related message. It was sort of a cross between standup comedy and
Applying discipline to our relationships means that we must set priorities and limits. Being human, we have only so much time and energy. We cannot love all people in the same manner. Some relationships demand more time and energy than others. Our spouse and children need more of our time and energy than do our
We have considered the risks in any relationship that arise from the possibility of loss and independence. Another risk is that of confrontation. There is no such thing a relationship between equals, no such thing as a real partnership that does not involve confrontation. Once two people begin to let down their defenses the possibility
M. Scott Peck was a psychiatrist and popular spiritual writer back in the 1980’s and 1990’s. The book that made him famous was “The Road Less Traveled”. In that book he defined love as “the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth.” He describes love as
“I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35). These words were part of the Gospel reading on a recent Sunday. As I
Back in the 80’s I conducted planning workshops throughout Micronesia. One of the exercises we did at the workshops was to discuss the important values in the community. Throughout much of Micronesia, a value frequently mentioned was respect. It was the glue that held the community together. If the elders at the workshops complained about
A recent issue of America magazine had an article by an author who writes articles primarily for religious magazines. She has built up a career as a “spiritual writer” but has come to question if that is really her vocation. I found the article captivating, as it was both painfully raw, yet showed a tremendous depth of