Some of those dining before the gilded statue in Rockefeller Center in fair weather and skating there in the winter may not know that the glistening figure is Prometheus, one of the Titans who preceded the gods of Mount Olympus. He stole fire from Zeus, who then condemned Prometheus to everlasting torment by an eagle…
Since we are responsible for the actions of those we elect, how should we vote when there is no perfect candidate? Obviously, the same way we make other prudential decisions in an imperfect world… we prioritize and weigh competing issues and considerations. This does not make us a “single issue” voter but we do have…
by Thomas M. Loarie “Dazzled, Finding the Key to Perfect Forgiveness” is one of the best books I have read this year. It is very well-written and difficult to put down. Author Jess Echeverry, with the help of award-winning co-author Patti Maquire Armstrong, has written a dark story about today’s culture and the challenges faced…
Of the many scientific contributions made by priests, including Father Copernicus’s heliocentrism and Father Lemaître’s “Big Bang” theory, some would rank higher the invention of champagne by Dom Pérignon. Something close to champagne had already been invented by monks near Carcassonne in the Abbey of Saint Hilaire in 1531. They were Benedictines like Pérignon,…
QUESTIONS THAT NEED ANSWERS With the rioting and destruction of buildings, businesses, homes, and efforts to eliminate the police, does your family and you have the necessary safety you deserve? Is allegiance to our country and our flag respected today? Does the liberal left concern itself with protecting an individual’s freedom of conscience and religion?…
Archbishop José H. Gomez, joined by bishops from across the country, leads faithful in praying a virtual rosary for the Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary, to seek our Blessed Mother’s intercession for the nation. The Rosary for America video is available today at https://lacatholics.org/rosary-for-america/. “Our hope is to unite Catholic people from across…
When explorers roamed what was to them a “New World,” they sent back to Europe descriptions of strange vegetation and wildlife, using familiar images to describe the unfamiliar. Spaniards in Peru reported that the llama was an animal with the body of a large sheep, the neck of a camel, and the head of a…
At the cathedral where I live, often I stop to pray at the outdoor chapel to Our Lady of Guadalupe, which overlooks the US 101 freeway. As I pray to Our Lady and look out on the cars moving by below, my mind goes to St. Junípero Serra and the missionaries. Three centuries ago they…
CNA—Cardinal Raymond Burke, a canon lawyer and formerly the prefect of the Church’s highest court, has said that Catholic politicians supporting abortion should not receive Holy Communion, including pro-choice Catholic presidential candidate Joe Biden. Biden “is not a Catholic in good standing and he should not approach to receive Holy Communion,” Burke said in an…
CNA—Criticism of Amy Coney Barrett is part of a “virus” of anti-Catholic “bigotry,” retired Archbishop Charles Chaput said on Monday. The archbishop warned that public attacks on the Supreme Court nominee’s faith constitute a wider threat to religious liberty. Chaput, long considered a leading intellectual among American Catholic bishops, retired as Archbishop of Philadelphia in…
“And now for something completely different,” as the entertainment industry is wont to say. Some aspects of liturgical worship are used for reasons that express the psychology of praise. For instance, there are vesture, candles, bells and, especially, holy water. The more that worship is confined to cerebral edification, the less attention is given to…
I found Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell to be an excellent book. As someone who has served as a CEO of early stage companies for many years and has also been asked frequently for advice by growth minded professionals and entrepreneurs, this book resonated. My copy is dog-eared and…
In our days of widespread inarticulateness, the word “awesome” is so overused that it loses its power. It is rooted in the Old English “egefull,” which means causing profound reverence. So, to call a good dinner or a new dress “awesome” is overkill. Only in the nineteenth century did its equivalent, “awful,” come to mean…
Pat and I have recently returned from a trip to Big Sky, Montana, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton National Parks where we took our two recent high school graduate grandchildren – Logan Elisabeth Denmon and Wilson Luke Von Dohlen. This is a tradition for us as each of our 16 grandchildren accomplish graduation from high school.…
Op.Ed, Washington Post—Sept 16, 2020—I never expected that the most basic religious freedom, the right to worship — protected so robustly in our Constitution’s First Amendment — would be unjustly repressed by an American government. But that is exactly what is happening in San Francisco. For months now, the city has limited worship services to…
In our city, accustomed to protest demonstrations of all sorts, a recent one was particularly dismaying and even frightening. The anarchistic chants were bad enough, but the frightfulness was in the glazed eyes of the expressionless marchers, like the “pod people” in the 1956 cult film “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” Carrying signs supplied for…
What is “woke capitalism”? This is a question that every Catholic should ask. Not just Catholic CEOs. Not just Catholic entrepreneurs. Not just Catholics in business school. Every Catholic, period. Why? Because every Catholic believes in – and benefits from – an economy where everyone is able to succeed. A flourishing economy is an expression…
The Prince of Lies cannot lie in the presence of Christ: “I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” (Luke 4:34). And Christ who is the Truth knows him, too: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18). Satan does not want anyone to know him, and yet in the present…
Joel Manby’s Love Works: Seven Timeless Principles for Effective Leaders is an excellent book that is worth your time and money. Over the course of my career, there have been hundreds of books published on leadership effectiveness. While they all have their own twist, the best of them all share a common thread. They are all…
We hear a lot these days about systemic or institutionalized racism, especially in connection with the police and persisting economic disparity between races. Protesters say historical racism is so embedded in our western culture that we need to erase symbols of our tainted past like statues and the names of cities, schools and sports teams.…
