As science and medicine enable more of us live to ripe old ages, or well past the deadlines certain illnesses used to impose, more of us also depend on others to preserve our quality of life. Food and shelter alone…

The greatest lesson of Christianity is the simplest: How to be selfishly selfless. That seems like a contradiction to anybody who doesn’t know the love of family. So imagine the band of brothers Christ assembled to carry on his mission…

For such a seemingly meek man, Mr. Rogers wielded a lot of power in his neighborhood. Many young adults grew up watching Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood on Public Television, finding solace in his humble, friendly, accepting manner. He offered them the…

A half century ago, my mother had a Scotch tape dispenser with this little piece of Pennsylvania Dutch wisdom inscribed on its side: “We grow too soon old and too late smart.” In today’s era of pervasive marketing, the Scotch…

Charles Krauthammer had every reason to welcome death. As if being paralyzed from the neck down weren’t enough, recently this award-winning journalist and commentator was diagnosed with inoperable cancer that left him with weeks to live. By the standards of…

A well-dressed elderly couple rang our doorbell the other day. After sharing greetings, one question from them told me they were either insurance salespeople or Jehovah’s Witnesses. “Are you worried about your future?,” one asked. “Who’s asking?,” I asked. “We’re…

See if you can guess where and when the following text first appeared: “A good turn need only be a very small one; if it is only to put a halfpenny into a poor box, or to help an old…

Cops are often criticized for trying to play God. Most good cops try to avoid that impression, but they can’t help relating to God—or at least to His son. One veteran cop I knew demonstrated that by his seating choice…

Nothing is uglier than a bad separation—except a separation with a restraining order. We’re witnesses to the aftermath of humanity’s separation from God in this Sunday’s liturgy honoring the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. In…

“Fake news” is the cliché of our current political environment. But as a concept fake news is as old as scripture. Matthew described its spread in his gospel account of Christ’s resurrection (Sunday’s gospel reading). The guards posted at Christ’s…