In a controversial decision that is rocking the nation, Columbia University has opened its doors to the President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a declared enemy of the United States, and to a nation that is a state sponsor of terrorism. In doing so, the university is giving him a forum to present … Read more
A huge geo-social gorge has suddenly appeared on the nation’s political landscape, and nearly everyone is talking about it. This strange chasm unites politicians of all parties into demanding immediate action. Educators, too, have placed it high on their agenda. What is this yawning gash that must be bridged at all cost? … Read more
Everything has to be big: We live in big houses in big cities, go to work in big cars on superhighways to reach our big businesses where we try to make big money.It’s no secret. Americans have a thing about bigness. We live in a big country that feels comfortable with the … Read more
While industrialization has brought material comfort in the form of technological gains, it is painfully clear that something spiritual is missing in life. Cold, lifeless materialism reigns supreme. If one thing characterizes the modern world, it is its uncanny ability to reduce the highest spiritual reality to material or digital irrelevance. In … Read more
Of all Catholic meditations, none is more wholesome than that on death. Catholic authors like Saint Alphonsus Liguori wrote passionately and extensively on the subject; modern homiletics seems to avoid it like the plague. The topic remains ever timely nevertheless. Death comes to all in all epochs. It marks the conclusion of … Read more
Machines are ever more plentiful and useful, but something more important, more spiritual, is being lost One of the greatest influences of the Industrial Revolution on society was perhaps its ability to mechanize our lives. In a materialistic world, which adores speed, it seems only natural that matter and speed come together … Read more
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Passing undulating rows of grapevines on either side of a steep driveway lined with cypress trees, the scene reminded me of a picture calendar I had seen of Tuscany, Italy. However, as I crested the hill, nothing I had ever seen before could match what I beheld atop this mountain. I was … Read more
The attendance of Queen Elizabeth at last year’s Kentucky Derby was her first and it was truly a memorable event. The track workers at Churchill Downs took etiquette classes in preparation for her Majesty’s arrival while the executive chef planned a sumptuous meal fit for a queen. Her presence at the Run … Read more
Gratitude, it has been said, is the most fragile of virtues. This virtue’s feebleness was nowhere more apparent than in the treatment given to American soldiers returning from the Vietnam War. They were sometimes spat upon at airports by fringe groups of hippies. Times have changed. American soldiers returning from the Middle … Read more
It was the most memorable Veterans Day of my life. As many recognized the sacrifices made by the living I paid my respects to someone who sacrificed it all. His name was Sgt. Daniel Shaw of West Seneca N.Y. I was doing home visits with the pilgrim statue of our Lady of … Read more