Traditionally, the Catholic Lenten message to us about Christ’s forty day desert sojourn has been: Take time out of your busy lives to do the same. Immerse yourself in a severe and sere inner landscape, as harsh and unforgiving as the desert, and examine what tempts you away from God. Spend enough time in deprivation,…
Read more

Women’s history month often invites us to look at women in the past, a valuable exercise that increases our knowledge and perspective. What strikes me about stories I am seeing this year about Catholic women is that they are living – and doing their work – now. Jeannine Gramick reflects for Lent on the desert…
Read more

This is a picture of a cross adorned for Lent outside the Iglesia de San Francisco in Antigua, Guatemala. At first I truly looked at the image with what I call “new eyes.”  I saw a child’s raggedy dress, workers’ crudely wrought hand tools, a sword pointed away from potential victims, a ladder offering elevation,…
Read more

Those with roots in Europe may be more concerned about Ukraine than the Catholic press seems to be here. After all, we’re a lot further from the fighting and the sanctions. For example, in London The Tablet seems to devote its whole print issue to the crisis. The summaries of two articles intrigue me: “Robert…
Read more

“A static Church is a museum church,” Pope Francis told students from Catholic universities in North, South, and Central America and the Caribbean as he and some of their student representatives conversed via YouTube on February 24 as hundreds of us listened in. When we go to a museum, he continued, we knock on a…
Read more

Does it not feel like an old, European war? Who knows what has happened in the two days between when I write this and when you read it. But I just think of all those TV shows and movies giving the lie to our peace witness. The flame draws us, or me, at least, but…
Read more

Sometimes I need a reminder of why I do what I do. Regina Bannan’s February 12 post did give us a reminder of all the good news we who work for justice and inclusion of all genders, races, sexual identities in our Church and its priesthood have had recently. And I’m cheered – in a…
Read more

Priesthood is the topic of a three-day Symposium organized by Cardinal Marc Ouellet in what may be his last gasp as head of the Congregation of Bishops. In April 2021, I wrote about its lineup of women theologians based at Vatican institutions. They are scheduled for two sessions, one about complementarity and the other on…
Read more

What you looking at Mr./Ms. Owl? And why can I barely see you when I look back? When asking myself or others the “big questions” in life about purpose, justice, spirit or the Spirit, security and tradition vs. monumental change, belief and believing, how, why, if…I sometimes get nowhere with prose, written or spoken. There’s…
Read more

There is so much good news this week, I have 22 articles saved to write about. Brace yourself! Maybe that means 2022 will be a very good year for Catholic reform. First, of course, is Kate McElwee in NCR. You really owe it to yourself to read the whole thing. It’s Kate’s response to Michael…
Read more