21 years ago I finally found my true vocation. I carefully put together a portfolio of work, staying up late into the night so I could be ready for my college interview. I drove to Kansas City with my mom, toured the campus, loved what I saw, and knew it would be a great place…
Why would a sinless Christ be baptized?
A priest, a rabbi, a Methodist minister, and a Presbyterian all get on a boat. Usually, the way this joke is told is that the priest says he forgot to bring the food, so he jumps out of the boat, walks on water to the shore, and grabs the food. The minister, amazed at the…
The silence before The Word
St. John declares that, at Christmas, "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us." When that phrase was read at the end of every Mass, "ET VERBUM CARO FACTUM EST," the medieval Christians would kneel in silence at the clearest declaration we have of the Incarnation. The Magi, too kneel in silence at the feet…
How to change – Why those New Year Resolutions fail
Mark Twain tells us that New Year's Day is the accepted time to make your annual good resolutions. Next week, he says, you can begin paving hell with them as usual, because of course, that road is made of good intentions. The problem, of course, being that our best of intentions are worth precisely nothing…
Yes, your messy, imperfect family can save you
George Burns jokes, “Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.” Between the ages of 18 and 30, I lived a good distance from St. Louis. I moved three times, and kept migrating further away until I was finally as far east as you could get without disappearing into the forests…
