When Cathedral College Seminary opened in 1967 in Douglaston, I was appointed by Bishop Bryan McEntegart to be a full-time professor on the faculty. In fact, the bishop had sent me in 1964 to get a doctorate in philosophy so that I could be a full-time member of the faculty at the four-year college seminary he was planning to build in Douglaston, Queens. In the early years of the college seminary, there was an adjunct professor teaching English. His name was Irwin Geisman, and he taught full-time at Fordham University.

There is a documentary about the technological revolution titled “The Social Dilemma,” available on YouTube, which I have my students at St. John’s University watch and discuss in class. The documentary features interviews with various individuals, including some who have worked in Silicon Valley and others who are actors.

For years, I had a strong aversion to historical fiction. That aversion goes back to when I was a student in college. The aversion lasted for many years. I had no desire to read books that were a combination of history and the author’s imagination. I wanted facts that were not mixed with some author’s created ideas. 

Recently, while preparing my Sunday homily, the words that continued to come to my mind were “conversion” and “renewal.” In my preparation, when I reflected on the three readings, those two words kept entering my consciousness. For me, these words were a good key to reflection on the readings. If they were a good key for me, perhaps they would be a good key for those participating in the Eucharist.

Every month, I receive the “Initiatives” newsletter that has been published for the past 46 years by the National Center for the Laity (PO Box 291102, Chicago, Illinois, 60620). I cannot recall how long I have been receiving it or how I started subscribing, but I am glad I somehow got on the mailing list. Every issue has something in its pages that interests me.

A few years ago — June 14, 2018, to be exact — David Brooks had a column in the New York Times entitled, “Personalism: The Philosophy We Need.” Because personalism is one of the philosophies that I teach at St. John’s University, I read the essay as soon as I saw the title.

A few years ago — June 14, 2018, to be exact — David Brooks had a column in the New York Times entitled, “Personalism: The Philosophy We Need.” Because personalism is one of the philosophies that I teach at St. John’s University, I read the essay as soon as I saw the title.

As I mentioned in last week’s column, I have been reflecting for some time on a view of death that Father Ronald Rolheiser wrote about in his spiritual masterpiece “Sacred Fire: A Vision for a Deeper Human and Christian Maturity” (New York: Image, 2014, pp. 344, $25.00).

I am not sure, but I think the first time I thought about our death as possibly an important gift to others was when I first read Father Ronald Rolheiser’s book, a contemporary spiritual classic “Sacred Fire: A Vision for a Deeper Human and Christian Maturity” (Image, Random House, pp. 342, 2014, $25.00).