To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here How can we know what something is worth? Two recent auctions have challenged our capacity to answer that question. Last month, cryptocurrency businessman Justin Sun outbid six rivals at a Sotheby’s auction to purchase a conceptual piece created by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. We’re not talking about a bronze sculpture… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Father Gregory Boyle directs Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, arguably the world’s most successful ministry to the members of inner-city gangs. He is inundated by opportunities to speak around the country. It’s no surprise that he sometimes falls back on the same compelling stories. A few summers ago, Boyle was asked to… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here The two men in today’s picture both claimed to be world-famous film directors. One was telling the truth. The other was a con artist. Can you tell which is which? On the right is the late Stanley Kubrick, who in his 50-year career directed only 13 feature films. But some of them… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here In 1915, Dorothy Sayers became one of the first women ever to graduate from prestigious Oxford University in England. Actually, she wasn’t given a degree. That was a privilege granted only to men. Sayers finally received her sheepskin retroactively in 1920, when Oxford concluded that women might be worthy of academic accolades after all. … Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Long-time residents of Chicago can still remember when their mayor moved into hell. Actually, Jane Byrne and her husband moved into the area on the Near North Side that had long been known as Little Hell. That name went back to the 1850s, when Irish immigrants lived in dismal conditions near a gas refinery… Read more »
One hundred years ago, people were just coming to grips with a strange idea: Everything is made of atoms. The notion had been around for a very long time. But all of a sudden a truckload of evidence emerged that it was really true. Even though common sense would seem to shout otherwise, reality is composed of exceedingly tiny particles. … Read more »
It’s possible that more doctoral theses, exegetical studies, and heartfelt sermons have been centered on Philippians 2:5-11 than any other text in Scripture. That’s because the apostle Paul’s inspiring summary of the life of Jesus alludes, in the span of just seven verses, to the four most important days in human history: Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, and the Ascension. No… Read more »
Throughout this season of Advent our focus is “The Story of Christmas in 20 Words.” On each of the 20 weekday mornings ending on Christmas Eve, we’ll spotlight a single word from the Gospel accounts that helps us ponder more deeply the birth of Jesus. 12. Child If the Greek gods had sought therapy, they would have kept an army… Read more »
Throughout this season of Advent our focus is “The Story of Christmas in 20 Words.” On each of the 20 weekday mornings ending on Christmas Eve, we’ll spotlight a single word from the Gospel accounts that helps us ponder more deeply the birth of Jesus. 11. Pitched-Tent Robert Frederick Chelsea “Bobby” Moore wasn’t just a famous English footballer (or what… Read more »
Bible commentator Dale Bruner, trying to describe “the deep grace of God for a flawed human race,” says there is one illustration that has helped him more than any other. It comes from Dr. Richard Selzer’s experience as a surgeon, as reported in his book Mortal Lessons. Selzer writes: I stand by the bed where a young woman lies, her… Read more »
