I may be in the minority, but I enjoy graduations. Often, I find them inspiring. Large numbers of students who have put in long hours of study and years of commitment are being rewarded. Parents and other relatives and friends are gleaming with pride and joy, rejoicing over the accomplishment of the graduates. I am especially moved at the graduation of someone I have taught or with whom I have a special relationship.
Arts and Culture
Fr. Robert Lauder is a philosophy professor at St. John’s University and the author of “Pope Francis’ Spirituality and Our Story” (Resurrection Press).
Great Faith and Rich Heritage
I EXPERIENCED A wonderful evening of celebration and sharing on Thursday, Aug. 24. All those who will be honored at the Great Irish Fair in Coney Island on Saturday, Sept. 16 were invited to St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights to meet and to celebrate Irish heritage with one another and friends.
Documentary Explores Vietnam War’s Enduring Impact
One of the more anticipated TV series of the 2017 season, co-directors Ken Burns and Lynne Novick’s ambitious, yet uneven, documentary “The Vietnam War,” premieres on PBS Sunday, Sept. 17, 8-9:30 p.m. EDT.
Temptation to Relativism
I CANNOT RECALL how the discussion started, but this summer on vacation with friends a really stimulating discussion about truth took place one evening.
Great Art Can Be a Powerful Vehicle
Third and last in a series
WHEN I DECIDED to write about Martin Scorsese’s film, “Silence,” based on the Shisaku Endo novel with the same name, I had no idea that reflecting on the film would lead me to reflect on so many related topics that interest me, and that I hope interest readers of this column.
Scorsese’s ‘Silence’: Is It a Masterpiece?
Second in a series
LOOKING FORWARD to the screening of “Silence,” the first film of this fall’s Friday Film Festival at the Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston, I have been reflecting on the nature of art and on what makes a work of art a masterpiece.
‘Silence’ Raises
I cannot recall the first time I heard the name of the Japanese author Shisaku Endo. It may have been at the same time that I learned that he was being described as the “Japanese Graham Greene.” Greene has been a favorite novelist of mine since my senior year at Xavier, the Jesuit high school in Manhattan, so I became interested in Endo and proceeded to read several of his novels. The first was “Silence.” After reading that excellent novel, I was hooked.
Story Writing and The Catholic Faith
LATELY I HAVE been thinking about the nature of story in relation to the Catholic faith. Perhaps it is because two of my favorite writers, Mary Gordon and Alice McDermott have either had a novel recently published (Gordon) or about to be published (McDermott). Maybe it is because of the film festivals I moderate, or the adult education course on the Catholic novel that I have moderated for many years. I am always looking for films or novels that might stimulate serious reflection on what it means to be human. Often a film or a novel can touch people more deeply than a lecture or a philosophical or theological text in a book.
Motivated by Literature
WHEN I WAS invited a few months ago to give a lecture on Walker Percy’s novel “The Moviegoer” (New York: Vintage International, A Division of Random House, 1960, pp. 242, $12), I felt that I was sufficiently familiar with Percy’s thought that I did not need to do much research.
Distinguishing Between Self-Love and Pride
Ninth in a series
FOR VARIOUS REASONS I recently have been thinking about self-love and trying in my mind to distinguish it from the sin of pride.