Author page: Fr. Barnabas Powell

It is said that the greatest chess players "see" at least 4 moves ahead at all times. This is why they can anticipate their opponents' moves and be ready for them. This is also a huge advantage in military strategy. The best generals know their adversary so well that they can anticipate the moves of their…

They even have a name for it; it's thanatophobia. Of course it's based on the Greek word for death - Θανατος and φοβος - literally the fear of death. It can become so bad in a person that they are terrified of dying every waking moment. Horrible! And yet, we live in such a death denying culture…

"You may ask yourself: How did I get here?" "Same as it ever was!" (An old favorite) SSDD! You know, "same stuff, different day." That's the way a buddy of mine would answer as we started our workday at a factory where I worked after school in my teenage years. He had been with this company…

"You're the meanest daddy in the world!" With that declaration, my daughter informed me that I was both unfair and unreasonable to expect her to clean up the mess she had made with the play dough. By the way, I'm convinced play dough was invented by demons for the tormenting and temptation of parents! From my…

My grandmother use to confuse me when she'd comment about a particular friend of my grandfather's. She'd look at the man as he was driving away from their home after a visit and say "He's a smart boy but he ain't got no horse sense." "Horse sense?" I'd hear that and wonder what in heaven's name…

When I was a boy, I was blessed with a vivid imagination and an active interior world. For those of you with something of a whimsical bend, you know what I'm talking about. In other words, math and science weren't my strong suits in school. I was always reading a story (science fiction was my…

What is it about the allure of transformation? We are drawn to it like moths to a flame. If you've ever suffered from insomnia, you've seen him on those infomercials promising everything from wealth to weight loss. Well, the weight loss infomercial landed him in real trouble recently! Big trouble. At the infomercial king's sentencing the…

"That's not fair!" My daughter was quite upset over what she perceived to be a bigger piece of cake given to her sister. The depth of indignant and obvious heartfelt wound was unmistakable in the tone of her voice, her crossed arms, and the tears welling in her eyes. She was righteously fighting for what was…

There is a story about this ant colony that had sprung up in a fallow field on a farm. During the time the field was "resting" from planting season, the ant colony thrived. But one day the Farmer walked out into his fallow field and determined it was time to plant that part of the…