We are taught as children the importance of honesty and decency, but those qualities are threatened when we learn to expect rewards for exercising them. That’s why we must avoid self-righteousness at all costs and learn the art of self-examination. This Sunday’s first reading from the Book of Sirach (Sir 3:17-18, 20, 28-29) focuses on […]

If you’ve visited or occupied a hospital room in recent years you’ve seen the smiley face pain scale. This is a tool doctors use to determine your level of discomfort. It goes from a smiley face 0 (no pain) to a teary-eyed frowny-face 10 (worst pain). People of faith could use something similar to describe […]

Many call our current era Godless. Church attendance is down and crime is up. Nevertheless, whether they know it or not, people of every background are helping the founder of Christianity accomplish what he told his disciples in this Sunday’s gospel reading he came to do (Lk 12:49-53): “I have come to set the earth […]

I have this fantasy when I’m on the receiving end of a particularly good or bad customer service experience. I think of myself as the head of the featured company in an episode of Undercover Boss, the show where CEOs disguise themselves and work alongside their employees to find out how they’re really doing. This […]