by Father Robert Lauder First in a series AS PART OF the adult education course on the Catholic novel that I moderate every semester at The Immaculate Conception Center, Douglaston, I had to give a lecture on Joseph F. Girzone’s novel “The Homeless Bishop” (Maryknoll). Readers of this column may be familiar with Girzone’s very […]
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).
Easter Artwork Winners
High School 1st – Gloria Yu Ma, St. Francis Preparatory, Fresh Meadows 2nd – Anibal Ceron, Middle College H.S. at LaGuardia Community College, East Elmhurst 3rd – Nicol Alfonso Delpino, Bishop Kearney H.S., Bensonhurst HM – Megan Cusak Bishop Kearney H.S., Bensonhurst Eighth Grade 1st – Gabriel P. Myrthil, Midwood Catholic Academy 2nd – Joseph […]
Still Impressed by The Catholic Worker
by Father Robert Lauder Last February I gave a lecture at The Catholic Worker in Manhattan. The lecture took place at 55 East 3rd St., which is Mary House, one of the two residences of The Worker has in New York City. I invited myself and offered to give a talk entitled “Personalism: a Philosophy […]
When God Is The Protagonist
by Father Robert Lauder Third and Last in Series There are several reasons why, even though it was published more than 25 years ago, Richard Gilman’s “Faith, Sex, Mystery: A Memoir” still seems very relevant to me. One reason is that in his memoir Gilman describes his outlook before he converted to Catholicism as that […]
A Chance Meeting Lasts a Lifetime
by Father Robert Lauder Second in a series RE-READING Richard Gilman’s “Faith, Sex, Mystery: A Memoir”, I am remembering why I liked the book so much the first time I read it, which was probably right after it was published in 1987. Many of Gilman’s experiences in reading are similar to mine and I agree […]
A Book Can Change a Life
by Father Robert Lauder First in a Series I THINK IT was Elie Wiesel who said that God created human beings because He loves stories. Wiesel’s insight, I think, is profound. There are as many stories as there are human persons and none of the stories are unimportant or insignificant. There are no unimportant people. […]
I Vote for Reading
by Father Robert Lauder I am trying to start a campaign among my friends and the students whom I teach at St. John’s University to encourage reading. In encouraging others, I am hoping to improve my own habits of reading. Though I do not watch a great deal of television, I wonder if I succumb […]
Everyone Has a Vocation
by Father Robert Lauder It is not clear to me whether I have a radically new image of God, different from previous images I had, or whether it is more a matter of emphasis. The “new image” is of God as constantly and dynamically active in my life and in everyone’s life. I suspect that […]
Is Dialogue Hopeless?
by Father Robert Lauder I was blessed to have Avery Cardinal Dulles as a friend. A provocative essay in the Jan. 13th issue of Commonweal has moved me to reflect back on my relationship with him as a friend and also as a theologian whom I greatly admired. The essay is “An Ignatian Spirit: Avery […]
Redemption Realized Through Christ’s Resurrection
by Father Robert Lauder MEMORY PLAYS TRICKS on us but I am fairly certain that my recollection of studying the resurrection of Christ when I was a seminarian is accurate. At that time, over 50 years ago, we studied dogmatic theology from a manual, a kind of textbook. I doubt if any seminary courses today […]