I suspect my experience of “Les Mis” and “Ragtime” is the experience of many, though they may not use the same theological terminology I do.

Since reading the wonderful novel “Theo of Golden,” I feel as though I am rediscovering the power of literature. This has moved me to reread sections of Flannery O’Connor’s “Mystery and Manners.”

“Theo of Golden” is one of the best novels I have ever read, and I strongly encourage readers of this column to read it.

My conscience tells me that Pope Leo and the American bishops are correct to call attention to the inhumane way that immigrants are being treated.

When we use ideas drawn from our knowledge of finite beings and try to apply them to God, who is infinite, our ideas are like blind lions.

Jaccqes Maritain claimed there were two components in any work of art. He called them the matter and the creative intuition.

Reflecting on John Henry Newman’s stress on personal influence, I am beginning to connect it more clearly in my mind with the obligation (or should I say honor?) of Catholics bearing witness with their lives to what we believe.

During the past week, I have been thinking about last week’s column in which I claimed that David Brooks’ book “The Road to Character” is one of the best books I have ever read.

I probably can only describe David Brooks’ “The Road to Character” with superlatives. It is one of the best books I have ever read. I only hope that in sharing the ideas and insights of Brooks (who recently left The New York Times and took a new position as a writer for The Atlantic) with readers of this weekly column, I can convey why I consider the book great.

As I am ending this series of columns on offering our deaths as a gift to others, I keep thinking of the word “chiaroscuro.” The word means a mixture of light and darkness. My experience is that when I reflect on a mystery, either a philosophical mystery or a religious mystery, my insight seems like a light penetrating the mystery that leads to some understanding of the mystery.