Am I getting older or is the news getting worse? All around the world seems to be disintegrating. What was considered immorality by everyone is now championed as good and progressive. The Christian church in America -- Catholics included--seem to be swept along by the crass materialism, commercial mentality and all the complacency and desires of [...]
My brother lives at the beach, and he was out walking the dog late one afternoon when he spotted an unusual fellow walking along the beach. He was wearing a kind of Franciscan habit, sandals and was carrying a walking stick and a big Bible. My brother engaged him in conversation. It seems the man was [...]
I have a friend who is an alcoholic. He says, "I have an addictive personality.That's just the way I am." OK. But that's not really an excuse. I tried to sympathize by saying, "So you're addicted to booze. That's a bad addiction. But why are you addicted to booze? What does it do for you?" The [...]
You may remember that episode in Peter Pan when Tinkerbell is about to perish and all the children in the audience are asked to clap their hands if they believe in fairies. Their clapping makes Tinkerbell come back to life. Tinkerbell seems to have invaded the mindset of modern man. That is to say, too many [...]
Those who like fairy tales should love the story of the Ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven. Like Dorothy, who is swept up by a cyclone to Oz, Jesus floats up and disappears up into what must be a Technicolor heaven. Fantasy tales are full of this sort of thing. Peter Pan flies away to Neverland; [...]
I have always loved the second epistle of St Paul to the Corinthians. His vulnerability, weakness and helplessness without God pervades every chapter, and yet it is in his sorrows that he triumphs. It is in the midst of the weakness that he perseveres. In the fourth chapter he speaks of the light of Christ, and [...]
You have to understand that I have a Mennonite in me. I can't help it. He lurks there in his black hat and chin beard watching me and nodding knowingly. He's one of my ancestors. They were all Mennonites and Amish and various sorts of Pennsylvania Protestants. Go to Pennsylvania Dutch country today and see how [...]