There’s a scene in “The Godfather” where an injured Michael Corleone plots the execution of the police captain who broke his jaw. Michael’s big brother Sonny—the next in line to head the family’s crime dynasty—chides this “college boy” for taking…
What’s it like to lose yourself in order to accomplish something important? Mission Impossible. That was also the theme and the name of a hit TV show in the 60s which, years later, Tom Cruise would parlay into a movie…
Humanity has figured out many of nature’s laws, but we’ve never mastered God’s physics. We tend to generalize it to our understanding of Newton’s law that every human action should have an equal and opposite reaction from God’s side of…
Most secular humanists believe that human life lacks a cosmic meaning—and they are okay with that. In fact, they find it liberating. They embrace the void. It relieves them of worrying about an afterlife—and struggling with the faith to believe…
The great irony of electronic media is how anti-social they have made us. Technology has taught us to isolate ourselves. Conflicts between “friends” that could once be resolved face-to-face over a cup of coffee now blow up into courtroom conflicts…
A church usher is like a hotel bellhop—without the tips. You really don’t notice us until you need us—or until we put a basket in front of your face for the parish’s weekly tip. But like a hotel bellhop, church…
Some of our greatest masters of the arts were inscrutable. Their mystery is displayed in their works and by their lives. Such strange manners contributed to our fascination with their art. Salvador Dali, Picasso, Grandma Moses …all had mysterious ways…
The Catholic Church has designated many saints as “doctors” of the church for their defense of our faith, but Jesus—the founder of this faith–set the standard for healing those whose faith was broken. The gospels are written by the interns…
A recent documentary about comedy delivered a sad commentary on humanity. This CNN special, part of its History of Comedy series, introduces us to stand-up comedians—people who tend to crave love and affection. Many of them have been starved of…
This Sunday, as we celebrate Matthew’s account of the radiant transfiguration of Christ, we should also be aware of the apocalyptic subtext nearby. A few chapters later, Matthew has Jesus citing the prophet Daniel whose book also happens to provide…