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Giving up goodness for Lent

Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly recently recounted asking a little kid celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans what he was giving up for Lent. The child said “nothing.” Instead, the kid added, he plans to do one act of random…

Cheat the Devil of his due

On this first Sunday of Lent, St. Paul summarizes the reason for the season (Rom 5:12-19) : For if, by the transgression of the one, death came to reign through that one, how much more will those who receive the…

Only one “Safe Space” offers true protection

The national decline in church attendance seems to be accompanied by another trend: a rise in “safe spaces” on college campuses. These are environments designed to protect certain students from subjects they may find uncomfortable, depending on their background or…

Salvaging Eden’s Harvest

Whether or not you believe in the literal account of Adam and Eve and the nature of their original sin, what’s harder to believe is that their Creator would abandon them and their descendants to hopeless lifetimes of toil and…

The divine design of prison breaks

“El Chapo,” the infamous Mexican drug lord, will go down in history for his inability to escape prison. Yes, he staged two elaborate vacations from them—the second via an impressive Hogan’s-Heroes-style  tunnel he dug beneath his cell—but he was just…

Leadership: One size fits none

Last week’s inauguration was designed to help Donald Trump accept an oversized hand-me-down mantle of leadership that he’ll have to grow into—just as each of its previous owners did. The ceremonies began with a series of prayers for the success…

What, me, fisher of men?

Guys like me who pontificate about matters of faith should pay special attention to this Sunday’s mass readings. Although many of us are guided by the Spirit, we can sometimes take a bit too much pride in occasionally saying something pithy…

Upgrade your state of reunion

Judging from the top viral videos, we’re all suckers for reunions—especially those involving military people who have been separated from their families for many months. You can see hours of these moments online—including those involving pets reacting to their returned…

The King who got into Herod’s head

“How many thousand of my poorest subjects are at this hour asleep! O sleep, O gentle sleep, nature’s soft nurse, how have I frighted thee, that thou no more wilt weigh my eyelids down and steep my senses in forgetfulness?…