“Lincoln” and me
The movie Lincoln is a strong contender for the Oscar for Best Picture Sunday night, and Daniel Day-Lewis has to be considered the front-runner for Best Actor after portraying the [...]
The new Pope: Hoping for another “holy old boy”
With the announcement of Pope Benedict XVI’s plan to resign, the Roman Catholic Church stands at an important crossroad. There are many Catholics and non-Catholics alike who have bristled at [...]
A chapter from a small book I’m writing: Catholic and Starting Out: 5 Challenges and 5 Opportunities — First Opportunity: The Exciting World
Free at last! You’ve moved beyond childhood, beyond adolescence. And now you’re an adult. It may not feel that way. After all, you’ve spent your life viewing adults as other [...]
Skipping and twirling through life
I don’t have any grandchildren yet, so I enjoy seeing little kids with their families in fast food restaurants. The babies, of course, and the toddlers, and the two-year-olds, and [...]
Book review: “An Irrepressible Hope: Notes from Chicago Catholics,” edited by Claire Bushey
There is a great deal of yearning in the newly published “An Irrepressible Hope: Notes from Chicago Catholics.” And some bitterness, too. But that is to be expected. Edited by [...]
A kind of martyrdom
In 2010, Janine Denomme died of cancer. We were members of the St. Gertrude parish in Edgewater. We served on the parish council together. Janine was one of the pillars [...]
No sample ballot from the Vatican
I’m Catholic, and I vote. But I don’t get my sample ballot from the Vatican. Don’t get me wrong. I listen to what official church leaders have to say about [...]
Like setting fire to a $50 bill
I walk out the door of my suburban newspaper office, out to the parking lot, in the harsh sunlight of dusk on an early Friday evening. It’s been a long [...]
What do saints do?
In May, 1912, the St. Gertrude parish, where I am now a member, was just five months old, and Sunday mass was being celebrated in a temporary wood-and-steel structure [...]
Why is the Mass like baseball?
Let me say first off that there are many times when I find Mass routine and less than exciting. It’s not like going to a movie or reading a book. [...]