Liberating Women

Fifty years ago, when ‘women’s liberation’ was just becoming a household phrase my mother made a comment which no doubt other wise women had made before: the first liberated women were nuns. One of those choice paradoxes found in the treasure chest of our faith…

Milk first, then meat

Antonyms are instructive. When we think of the meaning of a particular word and then contemplate its opposite, we appreciate all the more the value signified by that word. Think of peace and then conflict, warmth and then cold, or couth and then uncouth. We…

“Thanksgivikkuh”

Because of the alignment of the lunar and Gregorian calendars, the holidays of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving are in sync this year, a coincidence which last occurred in 1861 and will not reoccur for many more millennia! For many in our nation it will be an…

Good To See You Again!

Ignatian Volunteer Fe C. Varquez had a surprising encounter with a client at the food pantry where she serves in Los Angeles. “I’ve been at the Juan Diego Center for four years. I had just come back from my summer break. I saw Miguel, a…

WHY POPE FRANCIS LEADS HIS WAY

Pope Francis: Why He Leads the Way He Leads, by Chris Lowney, was just published. According to Amazon, this books is the first to include anecdotes from Jesuits who lived with the Pope, the first to explore his leadership style, and the first to draw…

Quaecumque sunt vera

At least according to the academic calendar, summer is now over. Once again, there is a ‘back-to-school’ edge in the morning air and rush hour traffic seems less rushed as bright yellow behemoths carrying their young scholars stop and start the flow of cars with…

... strong spiritual conviction ...

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…

... 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…