Several years ago, after I made a pretty self-righteous remark at a church meeting, I was reproached as having "no right to be so flip for someone so young" (I was 24 at the time, ...

As my second week in prison comes to a close, it becomes increasingly clear that the prison system serves little purpose than that of a multi-billion dollar industry. The economics of incarcerationEach federal prison receives $20,000 ...

With my tongue outstretched and her hand on my pulse, the acupuncturist fired questions and conclusions at me: "You worry too much. You think too much. Are you angry?" I groaned ...

While my elementary school teachers told me to believe in myself, my parents warned me it was not good to be full of myself. Love thyself and trust thyself, yes, but not too much. Be confident, ...

Down for the count During his homily on World Marriage Day, the priest asked everyone who had been married less than a year to stand up. He then asked everyone married one to five years to ...

No one's in the kitchen with Martha "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things," said Jesus (Luke 10:38-42) after a productive Martha rebuked her lazy ...

Federal Prison Camp, Maxwell Air Force Base—I was speaking to one of my friends today as we sat by the river inside the Camp. We were talking about life in ...

Mirror, mirror on the wall… I was looking in the mirror recently (I'm trying to lose weight and this is a good way to ruin my appetite…), and I realized that ...

Readings: Jeremiah 31:31-34 Hebrews 5:7-9 John 12:20-33 I live in an ugly building. It's a brown and teal low-rise that winds around a parking lot like a drunken staircase flipped on its side. Not surprisingly, the building was constructed ...

I love the Easter rituals that help me connect with the emotion and significance of this holiest day of the year. So I felt particularly blessed to be present for two different sets of rites ...

Recently, I was talking with a group of socially conscious Catholic friends about money. The question came up, "How does being Catholic influence how we think about money?" Our answers were revealing. The bummer of bucks One mentioned ...

Our mothers and bosses spent their careers intent on proving themselves the equals of men. The focus of their comparison on issues of freedom, autonomy, agency, and compensation was across the gender line. The force ...

The Bible's full of angry people. Noah's mad at his sons, Moses is mad at the Hebrews, and Mrs. Job, after a day of awful luck, tells her husband to "curse God ...

The "Fab Five" have done a complete make-over of the Vatican this past week prompting His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, to say, "It is as it was." ...

"I don't want to talk about anger right now," one of Saddam Hussein's advisors is reported to have said as he fled a Baghdad government building. Whole world's angry these days, isn't it? I suppose ...

In Oscar Romero: Memories in Mosaic, editor Mar?a L?pez Vigil paints a collective portrait of the beloved prophet, pastor, consoler, and martyr of El Salvador. Some 200 ordinary campesinos, priests, laity and even some wealthy people ...

There was nothing glamorous about watching missiles explode or about seeing an F-14 Tomcat smash into my ship's stern on its final approach. The Kitty HawkThe United States Navy aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk ...

I belong to Toastmasters, a public speaking organization that focuses on the art of speaking, thinking, and listening. I've been with my club for several years, and my big goal is to someday, some ...

The events of Good Friday are violent, to put it mildly. The crucifixion of Jesus and all the events leading up to it are disturbingly violent, ugly, noisy, and bloody. John's Gospel account of Jesus' ...

Readings: Exodus 20:1-17 1 Corinthians 1:22-25 John 2:13-25 A chaotic scene Jesus must have looked like a crazy man on his angry rampage through the Temple, a place crammed with people due to the upcoming Passover. And ...