Essays

Eight and a half years ago, an elderly friend of mine died, and one of the guys I play basketball with got leukemia.  It got me thinking about that thing [...]

I think I’ve always enjoyed walking in cemeteries. That may seem odd, especially during our present national crisis. But walking — well-separated from each other — is one of the [...]

    Over the last year, I’ve read two books that knocked my socks off — the exquisitely evocative “Song of Solomon” by Toni Morrison and that massive, epic, beautiful [...]

In recent days, I’ve been doing a lot of walking. I know that this may soon come to a halt if the efforts to combat coronavirus in the United States [...]

In Chicago, all public Catholic Masses have been cancelled for duration of the coronavirus emergency.  So, starting this past Saturday and Sunday, for the first time ever, all of the [...]

I like it when a Scripture story about Jesus reminds me of my granddaughter Emma. In this weekend’s Gospel, Jesus, just over a month old, is taken to be presented [...]

I’m hoping for a 2020 that’s OK. That’s all. I’m not looking for an excellent year. Or a super-duper year.  Or the Best. Year. Ever. Just an OK year.  Which [...]

Picture this:  The monthly meeting of a faith-sharing group of a bunch of guys who got to know each other at the local Catholic parish and have been gathering, almost [...]

The country duo Big & Rich (Big Kenny and John Rich) can be pretty goofy, but, on their 2014 album Gravity, they included a heartfelt song with the startling title [...]