Pope Francis wants to change the wording of the “Our Father” or “Pater Noster.” I wonder, though, why he should stop there. Isn’t it time to update the “Hail, Mary”? Although there have been a number of attempts to change this beautiful Marian prayer to make it more contemporary, the time may now have come … Read more
Whole books with titles like A Treasury of Christian Prayer attest to the fact that the Church can dip into vast pools of prayer and come up with any number of prayers that it might set before us for our contemplation. Some of them, such as the “Prayer of St. Francis,” are very popular and … Read more
My wife and I are quickly approaching the four month anniversary of having two foster children in our household, and although it’s been an experience unlike any other, I can’t help but to feel like an “Associate Member” of the Parent Club. Not that we give our foster children any less love, wisdom, discipline, praise … Read more
Richard McGuire is the nom de guerre of a father who is trying to document the crimes of his four children for a hearing at the human-rights tribunal of The Hague. These are some of the lighter moments he captured over seven years — with no help from the NSA — that can be revealed … Read more
I’m in the midst of a retreat with Father Groeschel at the Trinity Retreat Center in Larchmont, New York. The rose garden in the back is spectacular, as is the entire setting of the water-front estate given to Fr. Groeschel to run as a retreat for priests by Cardinal Cooke in 1974. “And all I … Read more
I’m in the midst of a retreat with Father Groeschel at the Trinity Retreat Center in Larchmont, New York. The rose garden in the back is spectacular, as is the entire setting of the water-front estate given to Fr. Groeschel to run as a retreat for priests by Cardinal Cooke in 1974. “And all I … Read more
I once read an interview with Garrison Keillor in which he recounted going to a funeral. During the final prayers, the minister prayed for the deceased — “and for the next person here who is going to die.” He said that most of the guests were outraged and offended, but that he was moved and … Read more
In the Old Testament, the standard protocol for angelic appearances is as follows: First, the angel appears. Then, the human to whom he appears either: a) Does not realize he is an angel and so behaves as he would toward a fellow human being (that is, he makes the angel a nice meal and is … Read more
The other day I was already thinking about gratitude when I started reading about old students and friends suffering from the continuing — the continuous — degeneration of the Episcopal church. Some of them faced losing their jobs, or had already lost them, but most of them suffered simply from seeing the communion they had … Read more