Here in the Diocese of Brooklyn, there is a deeply respected and highly regarded Roman Catholic-Jewish dialogue where leaders of both faith traditions come together as thought-partners to discuss critical theological and social histories and attitudes.
I know that many will say that slavery was in the past, and what’s done is done, and that’s all over now. I hear this often. And while yes, it’s true that black persons are no longer exploited to work as slaves, centuries of racism and its remnants have resulted in blacks being cataloged and labeled: they are “the other.” We’ve been conditioned to view hem differently, suspiciously.
When I was in eighth grade, I almost suffered a heat stroke in Death Valley during a family road trip through the Southwest. Conditions on that day were particularly brutal, and thankfully a nearby country store stocked dry ice.
The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way we do many things — from how we shop to how we work and go to school.
This coming year will undoubtedly be challenging on many fronts. In the model of St. Francis de Sales, and with the sanctity of journalism in mind, good journalism in 2021 can be a community builder that joins us in the common knowledge of what is happening, what to believe and how to move forward.
Much has been written in the secular media on President Joe Biden’s overt Catholicism and how that might challenge the already complex and daunting tightrope walked by Catholics in the public square.
Since the year 1983, our country has deemed the birthday of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to be a federal holiday. For some, this is just another holiday to relax from work, get errands done, or to catch up with friends and family.
To his final days, Bishop Francis Xavier Ford MM was a faithful witness of the presence of God in his humble servant and the Lord continues to offer that grace to all who are willing to confide in the Spirit’s presence in their lives.
One of the most important things I have learned this year is that life itself is a lesson through which we learn every day.
Although the Church began our new year on the First Sunday of Advent, many are looking forward anxiously to the end of the calendar year 2020.
