I never understood the washing of the feet. For newcomers, an explanation: each Holy Thursday at the Mass of the Lord's Supper, there is a ritual washing of at least ...

Reports say that Mel Gibson stands to make over 350 million dollars from his movie The Passion of the Christ. That's a huge payoff for a personal investment of 30 million ...

I ate meat this past Friday. I didn't mean to; it just happened. Abstinence malfunctionI was at lunch with a friend at Evergreen, one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in ...

How much of what we do on St. Patrick's Day is actually associated with the man St. Patrick? Turns out very little, actually. Green beer? Leprechauns? Pinching? "Paddy" would ...

Crystal Ball v. Gore On the evening of the 2000 election, I sat before Judith Regan Live watching a psychic make a prediction about the outcome. "We won't know who won for a ...

Of soccer and marriageMarriage is the union of man and woman aiming to form a family. That's its essence—its minimum requirements—and we have ...

I never thought that I'd find a spiritual lesson in a show run by Donald Trump, but The Apprentice ...

A man set apart by God When George W. Bush was governor of Texas and decided to run for president, he described his decision in terms of a divine mandate: He had ...

Love, me, and the cosmos in FebruaryEvery year when Valentine's Day rolls around, I become philosophical. Who am I? Why have I been placed on this earth? Why am ...

While flipping through my car stereo recently, I was shocked to hear Nelly say the F-word in his most recent song. Me and Nelly I'm not anti-Nelly. We did a movie together. Really. It's called "Snipes." ...

On a recent Saturday night, my husband and I went to a concert for an Irish punk band he had been following for over half a decade. We arrived at ...

In the midst of a contentious election year and on the heels of Barbara Ehrenreich's acclaimed bestseller Nickel and Dimed comes a new book about ...

My name is Tony Rossi and I'm a registered Republican. There, I admit it. I don't remember what year I registered, but it was before I started paying much attention to politics. The GOP seemed to share ...

It rumbles near. The playoffs have ended, and the "Event," the "All" soon arrives, on February 1st, only the second time the Super Bowl has been played ...

Rushing out the door on my way to work, I was stopped cold by large yellow spray-painted letters: F-U-C-K. The word screamed from the white fence separating my apartment building from my neighbor's home. Worse yet, ...

In "Consuming Faith: Integrating Who We Are With What We Buy," Tom Beaudoin focuses on what he calls "economic spirituality." Branding ourselvesBeaudoin, who explored "the irreverent spiritual quest of Generation X" ...

It's not Mary giving birth or the baby Jesus Himself that brings it to mind, but standing in the window watching for the first star to appear in the ...

In my family, we have a tradition of eating my Mom's excellent fruitcake after Midnight Mass. It's a sweet end to the wonderful experience of the evening. I'm sure Masses in other places ...

"There's so many of them," the septuagenarian remarked to a large gathering of us over dinner that night. "With all the people coming here from everywhere, can New York City really ...

I'm the Thanksgiving Day Scrooge. I truly think that Thanksgiving is simply a sham, a humbug, if you will. It's a day that makes us all feel a little better about ourselves for thanking God ...