Discovering your talents is up to you, not others

What is talent? In our world, talent is often synonymous with fame, fortune and entertainment stardom. Pop culture would like you to believe that you're either talented or you're not, and that the Simon Cowells of the world are the only ones with the authority to discover that talent. People all over the world dream of being "discovered," thinking they need to wait for other people to tell them that they're talented before their lives can really start. What makes me sad is that they often wait fruitlessly for years and years, not understanding that they are the best judges of their talent.

We are called to be moved with compassion

This autumn, there was a horrific accident in Anchorage, Alaska. A man had stopped on a busy street because his truck wasn't working. As his wife sat in the cab, he crawled under the back of the truck to check it, and when he emerged, a car plowed into him with such force that both of his legs were nearly severed. A woman, with her young son in the car, was passing by. She worked as a waitress and a nurse's aide at a local hospital, and she was coming off a long shift. Like the Samaritan of Scripture, she stopped and used her skills to staunch the man's bleeding. Passers-by handed her any scarf they could find -- even a belly dancer's scarf with coins attached -- and she, with help from another motorist, tied them so tightly around what remained of the man's legs that he didn't bleed out before the ambulance arrived. He lost his legs, but he lived.

Staying healthy as the cold brings us closer to animals

An unexpected usage of that good word, ‘consubstantial’

The Year of Faith: It’s time to get to work

Responding to editors’ requests for a regular sampling of current commentary from around the Catholic press, here is an unsigned editorial from the Oct. 3 issue of the St. Louis Review, newspaper of the St. Louis Archdiocese. The numbers are startling but should come as no surprise. In the last 20 years, our local church […]

Parish restructuring: Hard work by many, for the good of all (Editorial)

It would be too easy to look at the list of almost 60 parishes engaged in a restructuring or dialogue process this autumn and expect that they’ll all be ordered to close at any moment without so much as a peep from pastors and their parishioners. Far from it. The parish restructuring process currently under […]

Finding a relationship made of true partnership

When it comes to functional relationships, it seems that celebrities these days don't have a chance. Take, for example, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, Katy Perry and Russell Brand. The gossip rags are full of stories about lost relationships and broken hearts. These days, we're not at all surprised when stars split up. We are naturally wary when we hear about a brand-new celebrity couple. (After all, this is the celebrity culture that gave us Kim Kardashian's 72-day marriage.) We celebrate a couple's happiness by wondering when they'll break up.

Every vote counts

Every four years arrives both a great opportunity to participate in the democratic process and a brutal marathon of attack ads and speechifying that can exhaust all but the most partisan of voters. Presidential election years seem to combine the best and the worst of American politics, but what is undeniable is that for months on end, little else gets much attention. This election year, it would be a big mistake to overlook what else is on the ballot. There are many ballot measures that require the attention of all voters, especially Catholics. The moral issues involved and the implications for our country are such that Catholics must school themselves in what the church teaches on a variety of issues, from the treatment of undocumented immigrants to abortion, same-sex marriage and physician-assisted suicide.

Prayer and hard work necessary in priestly formation

When we respond, “Lord hear our prayer” to the offertory petition at Mass, “Let us pray for priestly vocations,” what should we include in this petition? Having worked in seminary formation, I can say that the formation of seminarians is awesome work in need of much prayer. During a recent faculty seminary meeting, in which […]