IN LAST WEEK’S column, I quoted from an excellent essay in Commonweal (April 10, 2015) by Cardinal Walter Kasper: “Open House: How Pope Francis Sees the Church.” I confessed that I was fascinated by the expression “a mysticism of the people,” and that I wanted to understand just what it means.
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).
Material and Spiritual Poverty
FROM THE TIME he stepped out on the balcony right after his election as pope, Francis has fascinated me. The Holy Father has captured the minds and hearts of many thousands. I wait with joyful expectation for the next statement of his that might be reported in the press. So far I have not been disappointed.
The Mystery of Great Literature
ONE OF MY goals as a college professor is to encourage contemporary students to read great literature. I think that a very serious problem among many contemporary college students is that reading great literature has fallen by the wayside. Undoubtedly, there are students who do read great literature but talking with other college professors has convinced me that the neglect of serious reading is an important problem.
Remembering an Influential Priest, Notre Dame Treasure
MANY YEARS AGO, during the summer before my last school year as a seminarian, I took a six-week course at the Catholic University in Washington, D.C., on the social teaching of the Church. The course was organized by Msgr. George Higgins, who was perhaps the most informed priest in the country. Msgr. Higgins, who became […]
Job, Shakespeare and Romero
10th in a series. THROUGHOUT HIS BOOK, “The Human Poetry of Faith: A Spiritual Guide to Life (New York: Paulist Press, 2001, pp. 142, $12.95) Father Michael Paul Gallagher, S.J., has placed marvelous quotations from well-known authors.
Amazing Depth in New History of the Jesuits
By David Gibson With the 2013 election of history’s first Jesuit pope, interest mounted exponentially in the now-worldwide Society of Jesus that St. Ignatius Loyola, with nine friends, founded in the 16th century. What Pope Francis’ election means for the Jesuits “remains to be seen,” writes Jesuit Father John W. O’Malley, author of “The Jesuits: […]
The Drama of Conversion
Ninth in a series EVERY FALL SEMESTER for the last 20 years I have taught a course on the Catholic novel at St. John’s University. The course’s title is “Philosophy and Literature,” but I have given it the subtitle: “Meaning, Mystery and Metaphysics in the Catholic Novel.” One reason that I created the course was that in […]
A Dialogue Between Therese and Nietzsche
In “The Human Poetry of Faith: A Spiritual Guide to Life,” Father Michael Paul Gallagher tries to broaden imaginations so that people might be more receptive to the Good News of Jesus.
Facing and Sharing Our Wounds
FATHER MICHAEL Paul Gallagher, S.J., gives the third chapter of his book “The Human Poetry of Faith: A Spiritual Guide to Life” (New York: Paulist Press, 2001, pp. 142), a title that I found provocative. He calls it “Struggles and Shadows.” In reading the title, I had the feeling that the chapter might have a special message for me. It did. At the beginning of the chapter, Father Gallagher writes the following:
Insights from a Philosopher
Sixth in a series MANY YEARS AGO, WHEN I was studying philosophy in order to obtain a doctorate, I decided that for my doctoral thesis I would write about some thinker’s philosophy of the human person. It seemed to me at the time – and still does – that by focusing on the mystery of the human person I would learn about many other philosophical topics.