In our city, accustomed to protest demonstrations of all sorts, a recent one was particularly dismaying and even frightening. The anarchistic chants were bad enough, but the frightfulness was in the glazed eyes of the expressionless marchers, like the “pod people” in the 1956 cult film “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” Carrying signs supplied for…
What is “woke capitalism”? This is a question that every Catholic should ask. Not just Catholic CEOs. Not just Catholic entrepreneurs. Not just Catholics in business school. Every Catholic, period. Why? Because every Catholic believes in – and benefits from – an economy where everyone is able to succeed. A flourishing economy is an expression…
The Prince of Lies cannot lie in the presence of Christ: “I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” (Luke 4:34). And Christ who is the Truth knows him, too: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18). Satan does not want anyone to know him, and yet in the present…
Joel Manby’s Love Works: Seven Timeless Principles for Effective Leaders is an excellent book that is worth your time and money. Over the course of my career, there have been hundreds of books published on leadership effectiveness. While they all have their own twist, the best of them all share a common thread. They are all…
We hear a lot these days about systemic or institutionalized racism, especially in connection with the police and persisting economic disparity between races. Protesters say historical racism is so embedded in our western culture that we need to erase symbols of our tainted past like statues and the names of cities, schools and sports teams.…
It may not be long before “Ladies and Gentlemen” ceases to start a speech, as the result of blurring the distinction between man and gentleman, and woman and lady. We may not hear at banquets, “Gentlemen, charge your glasses,” or understand the Victorian-era ballad: “My mother was a lady like yours, you will allow.” Putting…
As a psychosis, “self-mutilation syndrome” is rooted in self-loathing and obsessive-compulsive behavior. Whole cultures can be afflicted with a similar compulsion to injure themselves. Nowadays it is called a “cancel culture.” To topple statues and burn churches is a metaphor for self-loathing rather than reason. In their modern aesthetic recklessness, nations begin to disdain what Matthew…
The coronavirus pandemic has forced us all to rethink our daily lives. From the personal to the professional to the spiritual, the habits and rituals that we have come to rely on have been upended. It’s been difficult, to say the least. But it’s also a good time for us to ask: How can we…
When viewing the events of recent weeks I think most Americans share the common heartbreak, anger and confusion of a mugging victim. We have been violently assaulted by some thugs and something precious has been wrenched from us. Our mugging was not a one-time crime on the streets of Chicago or New York during which…
It is hard for an old man like me to talk about suffering. Most people I know, including me, are in charge of our lives. No matter the losses and illnesses, we still have access to care, to security, and a decent life. Suffering is not a real part of my world. Just how far…
Tied to my garden by a number of convalescing’s that have ganged up on me, I have been thinking of some words that we chew over a lot in religious settings. Words we use to pinpoint events, or human experiences. And one of them is conversion. Sounds very special—something that does not go in, in…
July waves Old Glory and Le Tricolore. Jacques-Louis David based the French flag on the cockade of the Marquis de Lafayette, who had been urged to help the American colonists by the Duke of Gloucester, in a funk because his brother, King George III, disapproved of his marriage. At least there was no Reign of Terror…
There’s nothing like sitting outside on the 4th of July, the birthday of the United States, listening to great patriotic music and hearing a new Lee Greenwood song. Yes, I missed watching the traditional parade due to Covid-19 concerns, but I find myself thinking of all the blessings that my family and I enjoy; things…
Stalin, killer of at least 20 million people, said “A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.” In mid-nineteenth-century China, the civil war known as the Taiping Rebellion cost upwards of 30 million lives. The feast of Saint Augustine Zhao Rong and his 119 companions, on July 9, is a reminder…
I am happy, and even relieved, to be able to let you all know that we will again be open for Masses this weekend. And we will be celebrating the 4th of July. Open, but very Carefully Open. Which should go without saying. But when you are dealing with a lethal epidemic nothing goes without…
As the local churches gradually open again, one is reminded of the persistence of Benjamin Stoddert Ewell, president of the College of William and Mary, ringing the school bell during seven years of closure after the Civil War. It is yet to be seen how many return to our churches after the quarantine, but the…
June 27, 2020 BOOK REVIEW: The Reinvented Leader: Five Critical Steps to Becoming Your Best, by Chuck Bolton (Paperback)
In The Reinvented Leader, author Chuck Bolton shares the wisdom and tools he has developed from working with more than 1,000 executives and 100 top leadership teams. Like Pat Lencioni and Ram Charan, Bolton sees patterns while working across many organizations and
After the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the Jews relied on literacy to preserve their culture, with the Mishna as the written record of what until then had been an oral tradition of rabbinic commentaries. While functional illiteracy seems to have been common, our Lord asked his listeners at least…
As our society gradually unwinds the Covid-19 shutdowns and people reenter the public workforce, we’re seeing new government efforts to “protect” us whether we like it or not. This increasingly involves mandatory health screenings and various forms of technology-assisted “contact tracing,” including new smartphone apps to identify people who are sick or have associated with…
Robert Gould Shaw was born into an abolitionist Unitarian family in Boston in 1837. When he was ten, they settled on Staten Island. An uncle who became a Catholic priest paid for his tuition at what is now the Fordham Preparatory School. As a somewhat distracted student, Shaw never completed his studies (who does?)…
