“Courage is birthed in encounter with the other. The things we do to put ourselves out there and get recognition for ourselves are at best gutsy; only our reputation and ego are on the line. But when we move beyond our comfort zone of individualism to encounter another, seeing the needs of...
When you were in American History class, did you learn about the 1619 arrival of the White Lion, the ship that brought the first Africans who were enslaved to the shores of what is now Virginia? I did not – perhaps you did. I mentioned in this space recently the release of the book Four...
Melvin Whitfield Carter, Jr. is the father of St. Paul's current mayor and a true son of Rondo. He was born in a city divided along racial lines and rich in cultural misunderstanding. Growing up in the 1950s and '60s, he witnessed the destruction of his neighborhood by the construction of...
Throughout March, our parish will be collecting donations for food shelves in our area. Your financial contributions make a difference -- food shelves can leverage our dollars to buy more food than we are able to purchase on our own.
Donate here and select Plate Collections, March...
I have shared in this space before the wisdom of Bryan Stevenson – the author of Just Mercy and the founder of the Equal Rights Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama. His words below are part of an interview for the On Being podcast. If you would like to hear the entire interview, go to...
Living Solidarity with the Rice Bowl
One of the seven principles of our Catholic social teaching is solidarity – the truth that we are one human family and that loving our neighbor has global dimensions in a shrinking world. This principle guides us to get to know our brothers and sisters...
Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman was an aviator. Not an unusual career path for people these days – but Ms. Coleman was unique. In 1921 she became the first Black woman to ever earn a pilot’s license. Being a woman and being Black both disqualified her from any U.S. flight...
From February 23 entry in the "Living Lent Daily" from Loyola
Our Christian hope begins with inspiration. Jesus awakens us spiritually and plants within us the desire to live out of love, faith, wisdom, and justice. Gradually the vision of our destiny comes into focus. We begin to see...
Each Lenten season our Rice Bowl project focuses on three different countries where Catholic Relief Services works. This year, we can virtually travel together to Madagascar, El Salvador and Timor-Leste.
Hunger is a persistent problem in countries all over the world (including here at home)...
You may have seen news coverage recently of Cardinal Wilton Gregory, America’s first Black Cardinal. Some Catholics have expressed surprise that there were no Black American Cardinals before 2020.
Here is what Cardinal Gregory had to say when asked to comment on that:
“Maybe 15 or...