Caroling. Festive parties. Charming decorations. Cookies. Gift-exchanges. The message is all around us: We should be happy because it’s Christmas. Indeed, to be anything other than effusively joyful means running the risk of being labeled a scrooge. So, no matter what is going on in our lives – or in …

I recently made the decision to sell a series of books by Hans Urs von Balthasar. They had always been treasures of mine but, at 16 volumes, I knew I would never get around to reading them. It’s impossible to buy them as a set anymore, and their rarity tempted …

Much of this difficult year has been spent in uneasy, uncertain waiting – waiting for businesses and schools to reopen, waiting for the development of a vaccine, waiting for life to return to normal and, for some, waiting for COVID test results. Perhaps most of all, we have spent many …

This year has been one packed with a cacophony of sound. There’s the bigger-picture noise: the dire warnings and subsequent mourning related to the ongoing global pandemic; the presidential election and ever-increasing polarization and ugliness we hurl at one another on social media; the ripping sounds of hurricanes tearing through …

Gran parte de este año difícil se ha dedicado a una espera incómoda e incierta – la espera de que las empresas y las escuelas abran nuevamente, la espera del desarrollo de una vacuna, esperando a que la vida vuelva a la normalidad y, para algunos, esperando los resultados de …

As we near the end of 2020, perhaps most of us are eager to see the completion of a troubling year that has brought great trials and deep pain to so many. And yet, even at this challenging time of COVID-19, job losses and civil strife, we have much for …

When did the belief in heaven and hell originate among Christians? I have heard that Jewish believers, some early Christians, and even possibly Jesus did not believe in an afterlife. Most Christians would probably be surprised to know of the diversity of Judeo-Christian beliefs about the world to come. The …

Recently I sat down with a journalism student and answered questions about my career. When she asked what I like most about my job, I didn’t hesitate: “Learning about and telling people’s stories,” I responded. “Interviews are an opportunity to encounter people and their lives that I likely never would …

A medida que nos acercamos a finales del año 2020, tal vez la mayoría de nosotros estamos ansiosos por ver la finalización de un año preocupante que ha traído grandes pruebas y profundo dolor a tantos. Y sin embargo, incluso en este difícil momento de COVID-19, pérdida de empleos y …

Youth ministry began at Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Reading in the fall of 1998, and, soon afterwards, we began seeking opportunities for the compulsory “mission trip.” We didn’t have to look far. At the same time, our Parish Mission Commission was filing the paperwork to recognize a small …