One year ago for the very first time, I planned my year's reading instead of simply keeping a reading list as I went along. Inspired by How to Make a Yearly Reading List as a Grown-Up, my first step was to root through my shelves and scan my Audible and Kindle libraries for books I already … Continue reading Five Standouts from a Reading Year
December days are short, hemmed in darkness. Grateful for a new liturgical year with its wisdom of waiting and preparation, we place new candles in the old Advent wreath. We light the first candle. Just the first. In silence, preparing to read the first scripture of the season, an old proverb rises in the heart: … Continue reading Advent’s First Week: It Is Better to Light One Candle
While intentionally seeking more daily silence, I'm also grateful for the invention of earbuds. They're not not entirely a blessing, of course. Earbuds can further the ever-growing problem of isolation. They can override the "still, small voice" by drowning it in mindless noise. But selective listening is a gift. Plugging in to the right sources … Continue reading The Word on Fire Show and the Bishop Who Refuses to Dumb Down the Faith
Even worse than humanity's general tendency to use our tongues as swords is the fact that so many Christians do it to each other. It has always been so, because we are being perfected but few if any among us are perfected yet. But we must not accept this state of affairs. St. Paul, writing … Continue reading Christian vs. Christian: Stop Tearing Each Other Apart
A Catholic bishop and an atheist engaged in a warm public conversation when Dave Rubin invited Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron for a sit-down on The Rubin Report not long ago. Their hour-long conversation is available in two YouTube segments (Belief, Faith and the Church Sex Scandal and Abortion, Gay Marriage and Porn). It's … Continue reading Dialog in a Divisive Time: Bishop Barron, Dave Rubin and the Space Between
