She said this to me with such painful expression. I had really let her down by wondering aloud if another one of our mutual friends was really going to follow through on what he promised to do. I can still hear the pain and disappointment in her voice "you 'doubting Thomas!'"
So what is it about…
Fr. Barnabas Powell
It's no secret that family life is filled with challenges. To be honest, I don't think we've seen the real fallout of all the societal experiments we Americans have engaged in since all these movements have been demanding this or that change in society. One of the interesting, if unintended consequences, of these movements is…
To say that marriage is a hot topic today would be an understatement. But, you have to understand that the motivation for all this controversy about marriage today isn't new. And it isn't about equality or fairness or even compassion. It's about attack. It's about the real, yet unstated goal of some (after all, if…
What provokes you? Politics? Religion? Race? Inequity? Violence? Chaos (OK, this one is a personal provocation!)? No matter what might provoke you to action, if you allow the provocation to be your primary motivation, you are sure to always be provoked. You see, provocation is a "result", not a motive. And learning what is behind…
He was actually bragging about being the best at being the worst! I'm not kidding! I sat in front of him staring in absolute disbelief in what I was hearing. I was lamenting the shallow commitment of my own heart to the rigorous practice of the Faith, when he chimed in that "his people" were…
There's one word that those who know me best would NEVER use to describe me: Gentle! I don't know if it's my "creative" use of language or just my deep suspicion of spineless mediocrity, but I am rarely what you might call "gentle." I tend toward the "over-the-top" and brash black and white mindset of…
I stood line line for what seemed like hours, but my friends and I REALLY wanted tickets to this concert. I mean we really did! We wanted them so bad that standing outside for hours, missing other events, and even getting a little hungry didn't stop us from doing what we had to do to…
It's amazing how perspectives change as you get older.
When I was a kid in elementary school, we boys were absolutely convinced that the girls had cooties! Of course, we had no idea what "cooties" were, but if the girls had them then that meant we needed to be as far away from them as we…
The older I get the more I'm convinced I'm not going to live long enough to learn all I want or even need to learn. There just seems to always be more! And that can be a daunting realization for a man who (foolishly) believes he has some sense about him! Frustrating as well, especially…
There was a stunning article in the January 2013 issue of Boston Magazine. It was entitled "Losing Our Religion" and the article begins by telling the story of a mother and her 9 year old son watching a procession of the faithful from the Greek Orthodox church across the street from their home on our…