The City of Philadelphia has much about which it can legitimately boast not the least of which, of course, is the gathering of that first United States Congress over two centuries ago. Another development for which the City of Friends can be rightly proud is…
Author: Dana Robinson
... transforming service into mission
It started in the mid 1990s with 11 volunteers and two Jesuit priests, Fathers Conroy and Costello, and now comprises a National Board, Regional Directors and 380 volunteers serving in 16 metropolitan areas in the United States. Though as a founding group the original 11…
… new wine in old skins …
According to the Gospel of St. Mark (2:22), Jesus admonishes his disciples about the folly of pouring new wine into old wine skins. Some interpret this advice to mean that as new ways are embraced old ways must be abandoned.
Groping for God
Among the liturgical readings last week we came across St. Paul’s visit to Athens. Imagine: Here is an educated Pharisee, so devout that not long before he was attempting to silence the evangelizers of the very same good news he himself was now promulgating.
The liberating power of liberal arts
Franciscans are much on our minds these days. Our recently elected pontiff, the first to do so, has taken the name of the founder of that Order renowned for its charity. With a Jesuit pope assuming a Franciscan name will the world witness our minds…
The Sealed Tomb
Included in the synoptic gospels’ accounts of the crucifixion are references to a sudden noon-time darkness, the veil in the Temple’s Holy of Holies being rent asunder, and the earth trembling at the moment of our Lord’s death.
Prologue to the world
One of the “Kingdom advancing” entities listed under the ‘Catalog of Ministries’ on the website of the National Catholic Community Foundation (www.nccfcommunity.org) is the Assumption Seminary of San Antonio, Texas (www.assumptionseminary.org). Reaching back over 90 years into its days as St. John’s Seminary Assumption can…
The triumph of beauty
Truth, Goodness, and Beauty are the triumvirate that surrounds the throne of God. None can glimpse His eternal glory without the aid of one of these timeless powers. While each has independent capacity, the three are mysteriously related and cooperate in their divinely ordained duty…
Learning to crew in an oasis
Sometime ago I wrote in this column about Saint Francis Xavier School located near the Art Museum in Philadelphia. Founded in 1845 it is now one of the oldest continually operating Catholic schools in the western hemisphere. In this current school year, it serves 206…
Straight and narrow, but colorless?
A few mornings ago my wife and I were admiring the activity outside our kitchen window. It was a lovely winter scene. In a snowy background an assortment of birds were feasting on the safflower seeds which frequently fill their feeders. We were mesmerized by…