Some years ago, my wife and I decided to forego the over-crowded restaurants and parking lots on Valentine’s Day, light a few candles of our own, and enjoy a romantic dinner at home. With this year’s health concerns and, in some cases, more limited restaurant seating to compete for, it may be just the year [...]
The first Jews used the symbol of unquenchable fire to depict the all-consuming power of God’s love. The first Christians, however, believed that this love was now embodied in the Risen and glorified body of Jesus, as he rose from the dead on the first Easter day, and they used the radio-active energy of the [...]
Before He was born as Christ the King on earth, He was “born” in the “mind” and “heart” of God as Christ the King in Heaven. He was firstly born in eternity before time began, so that the glory that reigned in Heaven could also reign on earth, in Him. However, if God’s Son was [...]
I went to Grandma’s house to decorate Christmas cookies today. Decorating cookies with her is a tradition. She bakes cookies for Easter and Thanksgiving too, but she bakes the most for Christmas. She has lived in her house since 1968. That is 56 years. It was where her children were raised, and it was where [...]
Although there may be a hundred and one things that can be done in a Jubilee Year, there is one thing above all others, without which everything else is pointless. First and foremost, it is a time to turn back and embrace anew the only form of love that can unite us with God. In [...]
Many years ago, I had a wonderful plumber who was always there when I needed him. Nothing was too much trouble, both night and day, on weekends, and even on holidays, when he never charged more than the current rate. Sad to say, I never really appreciated him. He was just the man I turned to [...]
The challenge we face today is humanizing a Bureaucratic Regime, just as our ancestors humanized a German warrior regime. We’re in the position of the Apostle Paul, handcuffed to a Praetorian guard. As the Bubble grows more psychotic and inhumane, opportunities for evangelistic kindness and witness multiply exponentially. As we survey our emerging Bureaucratic Regime [...]
Petrarch’s Canzoniere is often referred to as merely love poetry, dedicated to the poet's lost love, Laura. This is an important observation, but it overlooks other elements of the text such as the themes of forgiveness, repentance, and the connection to the divine. Claiming that the Canzoniere is merely love poetry is not only an underestimation [...]
One powerful way to begin to escape from the Cave is to strive to love others without seeking a reward; that is, to love others the way God loves us. The Cave In the Parable of the Cave, Socrates uses powerful images to depict the universal condition of humankind. All of us, ancient Athenians and [...]
Raffaella is a new fairytale ballet commissioned by the Stroik family, in memory of their daughter, Raffaella Stroik. Inspired by her life, this full-length ballet follows the lineage of classical ballets such as Giselle and The Sleeping Beauty and seeks to embody Raffaella’s motto, “Beauty will save the world.” The ballet will be premiered on Saturday, [...]
My dad brought Al McGuire to me in 1973, when I was a sick and depressed twelve-year-old kid. Al McGuire brought that same twelve-year-old girl the coolest shirt in the world, two wall hangings, season tickets, and the best thing of all: a way to hug my father. Most girls who develop crushes confine themselves [...]
Love must not be, but take a body too Air and Angels —John Donne The primal metaphor has been transposed as sleep an affiance with death eludes for death defective is but sleep. Alludes to resurrection now: a dawning rosed […]
It always struck me as a curious expression and one my mother always used when she caught me in a moment of idle day-dreaming, a gift I own to this day: woolgathering. More so since the veterinarian in my small home town did raise sheep and did shear sheep and sent us out with bags [...]
August 1, 2021. A date of little import in world affairs. A day of savage sorrow, forlorn failure—and exhilarating liberation—for me. Few days in my life have I ever looked forward to so eagerly. None had I ever dreaded more. My eagerness was and remains unseemly and obscene. My dread, overwhelming and persistent. No more lies, no [...]