“Good book. Did you know he was Catholic?” You never know what questions will mark you for life, but there was no doubting the impact of this one. I had just...
Wise Guides
Wise Guides essays explore how saints and holy figures offer wisdom for today. In each reflection, the author connects a historical person’s ministry to our modern spiritual and moral challenges.
The abbot traced a cross on my forehead with his thumb. “Julia Hildegard, be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Hildegard of Bingen had come to my mind...
Lucy Maud Montgomerys spunky heroine Anne of Green Gables famously uses the term “kindred spirits” to describe people with whom she quickly senses...
When I feed the poor, they call me a saint, but when I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist. Dom Hélder Câmara offered this statement at a...
The first time I ever heard of John Henry Newman was in the summer of 1964. The Idea of a University was required reading for all incoming Georgetown...
Autumn is St. John Henry Newman’s time of year. Newman was canonized October 12 and his feast day is October 9. But the fall foliage also reminds me of Newman...
When I arrived in Taiwan 20 years ago to start a Claretian mission, I didn’t know much about Matteo Ricci. Sure, I had heard of this Jesuit missionary in some...
I was introduced to writer Brian Doyle only a year ago. I blame this on the fact that I’m a convert, not a cradle Catholic. In many ways, I think God was...
When I sit down to read a poem, I am brought out of myself and into a different vision of the world. Whether through meter, rhyme, metaphor, or even just line...
On the desk in my home study sit several objects that point to various aspects of my journey of faith. There is an icon depicting the raising of Lazarus, a...
