As far back as I can remember, certainly as far back as when I was a student in college, I wanted to try to center all my studies and reading and my intellectual life in general around my Catholic faith.

There is so much in theologian Father Michael Himes’ essay “Finding God in All Things: A Sacramental Worldview and Its Effects” (Biblio) that I have re-read it several times. I plan to save the essay and refer to it often in the future.

God is overflowing love. WOW!

A few years ago my friend Father Joe Kelly told me that he was writing a book and described for me what he planned to deal with in the book. I cannot recall exactly what Joe said, but I do recall thinking that Joe’s ideas were not good and I was certain that he would not be able to get a publisher.

Re-reading Flannery O’Connor’s Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose, selected and edited by Sally and Robert Fitzgerald (New York: Farrar, Straus &Giroux, 1961, pp. 237), I have been reminded how insightful and stimulating are Flannery’s insights into the nature of fiction.

A few months ago in one of the daily newspapers there was a discussion about whether reading literary masterpieces could influence a reader morally. I regret that I did not follow the discussion closely because I find the topic fascinating.

Topics that I write about in this weekly column are often chosen from some book or article that I have read. I read something that interests me and hope it might interest readers of this column.

While writing this series of columns about how persons freely create their own stories, I have tried to emphasize the presence of the Holy Spirit in people’s lives.

In the last two columns I have been stressing that we create our personal stories, especially through our free choices and God’s free choices.

Recently I came upon a really good definition of culture. It is from the social scientist, Clifford Geertz.