Last year this time I delivered the Commencement address to my alma mater, Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana. Since it is graduation season, I thought I’d repost it. Thank you, President Mooney. And thank you to all the professors and staff of Saint Mary’s, especially those who have changed my life: Joe Incandela,...

“If you build it, he will come” is the famous line in the classic 1989 flick, “Field of Dreams.” When Iowa corn farmer Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) starts hearing voices to build a baseball diamond in his fields–sacrificing all the income from his crop–everyone thinks he’s gone mad. He has. Sort of. But then he...

For me Lent is about emptying–a glass, a basket, a soul–so that it can be filled up again…with wine (or sparkling cider), peeps (think Easter basket), and hope. The forty days before Easter is one big humbling exercise–where you remind yourself that without God, you’re nothing but a pile of cinders. “Don’t kid yourselves, guys,”...

This blog post has been also featured as a Beliefnet gallery. To get there click here. Lent, the 40 days preceding the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, is supposed to be a time of fasting, where we chocoholics take an “s” of out the word “dessert,” and are left with “desert.” I heard somewhere...

I like to repost this article written by a reader, Dania, every Lent. There is a dark smudge on my forehead. I am acutely aware of it. It feels kinda slimy. And people notice. This year, I’m not sure I want them to. There are plenty of years I’ve wanted people to notice the ashes...