What Truths Do Jews, Christians, and Muslims Hold in Common?
(Note: I wrote this reflection three weeks ago and scheduled it for today. The deadly attacks in Paris last Friday have deeply moved all of us, I’m sure. They make the topic of this post more urgent than ever.)
History is filled with stories of the animosity among Jews, Christians, and Muslims: the Crusades, the Holocaust, and 9/11, for example. Even our current headlines proclaim stories of violence and hatred among these three religions that all trace their origin to the Patriarch Abraham. But today let’s look at eight truths or practices that these three faith traditions hold in common. Hopefully, a greater appreciation of these commonalities can help build understanding among us. (I am indebted primarily to Msgr. Joseph Champlin for these ideas.) (more…)
The Wright Brothers
On a winter day in 1903, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, two unknown brothers from Ohio did something no human being had ever done before: They successfully flew the first heavier-than-air powered machine carrying a pilot. Their remarkable story is told with clarity and thoroughness by David McCullough in his book, The Wright Brothers.
Why Are Babies So Cute?
A number of years ago I was helping my mother with her grocery shopping. As we turned into the next aisle, we saw a woman coming toward us with a baby nestled in her grocery cart. My mother stopped her. “In which aisle did you get that?” she asked pointing to the baby. “I’d like to get one too.” The woman smiled and a conversation ensued. The whole time we talked, my mother and I kept admiring that baby. We couldn’t help it. The baby was so cute!
Brother Mickey and the Saints
November 1 is the feast of All Saints. This feast focuses on those saints not formally canonized by the Church. (Writer Kathy Coffey calls them “God’s Glorious Nobodies.”) The feast also underscores one of the greatest treasures we have for our spiritual life: the array of holy people who have gone before us in the faith—canonized or not. The question I pose today is: How well do you know the canonized Saints?
Do you know, for example, which saint is the patron saint of fishermen (and fisherwomen)? If you said St. Peter, you’re right. But who is the patron saint of airline pilots? Believe it or not, it is St. Therese of Lisieux (often called “the Little Flower.”) How could this young cloistered nun, who never left her convent and never flew in an airplane, be the patron saint of airline pilots? Because, as Pope Pius XII said, “She traveled the world in her heart.” (more…)
In Praise of Perseverance
An 87-year-old nun lived in her community’s large health care center. To put it bluntly, she was not known for her cheerful disposition. Yet every day she would shuffle down the hall with her cane and pray before the statue of St. Therese the Little Flower—a saint who died at age 24. One day another sister overheard the elderly nun saying to the statue: “If you had lived as long as I have, you wouldn’t be a saint either!” (more…)
