I spend much of my time speaking to different groups of people throughout the country. As a black Catholic theologian, one of less than a half dozen in this...
Church history
When I started doing research for the essay I wrote in the May 2016 issue of U.S. Catholic, I was surprised to find out that the church never issued an edict...
It all started when my brothers and I were planning what Dad called a “shindig” for our mother’s 80th birthday. Looking through some old family photos, we hit...
It all comes down to the Resurrection. Twenty centuries of Christianity—and the faith of billions—rest on this singular event. And who is the primary witness...
In many ways, the story of the church starts with Peter. With the words, “And I tell you, Peter, that on this rock I will build my church,” Jesus appoints...
How the Bible Became HolyBy Michael L. Satlow (Yale University Press, 2014) “Words create communities.” This delicious little notion has inspired...
The progress of the Industrial Revolution came with a steep price: the horrible excess of human wreckage. Be it death or dismemberment in factory work, chronic...
There’s a certain diagnosis you will hear over and over if you start to ask Catholics about Jesus—particularly about other Catholics’ relationships with Jesus...
Halloween: What a great holiday! It beats the heck out of Arbor Day six ways to Sunday. Around this time every year, I’m asked by Christian parents about the...
Mark Twain once remarked that “clothes make the man” because “naked people have little or no influence on society.” Since clergy aren’t known for appearing...
