A contemporary government official, in a high-profile speech, once enthused about the benefits and powers of science.

A friend was reflecting on a remark she’d made that morning to someone, which she didn’t feel good about. “Sometimes I think about things after I say them,” she mused, “and wonder why I did.”

Are you afraid of the dark?

Love your enemies, Jesus tells us. Apart from the direct command of God, it������Ƶapp not obvious that loving enemies is a necessary or even desirable thing to do. They can and do hurt us, and hating them can motivate us in protecting ourselves.  

An article defending the widespread practice of abortion for babies with Down syndrome disturbed me.  

“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”

In an emergency ward, in another country, I lay on a table awaiting the physician. Lightning flashes of pain shot through my body, weak from days-long inability to take in water and food.

In our city, and throughout the world during this Year of Mercy, several churches have Holy Doors. They’re pilgrimage sites, just like the one at St. Peter������Ƶapp in Rome, only much closer.