When I enrolled in a seminary course to learn about the art of pastoral care, the professors began by telling us the most important tool we’d need would be to learn more about ourselves. I was offended by this
If You Don’t Mind My Saying, I Can See You’re Out of ACEs
Yesterday we explored alcoholic systems, citing examples from my own family of origin. Today we’re going to talk about some of the reasons people head down the path of alcoholic behavior. A number of years ago, an accidental discovery
Comfortably Numb
My grandmother, Mary Yanni, was one of the most influential people in my life. When I was born, my grandmother’s house was about two miles away from the home where I lived with my parents. My grandmother (affectionately called
What Becomes of a Broken Heart?
I did not always know I was going to become a priest. When I was a child, I did have a love for the liturgy, but I thought everyone did. While attending St. Mary’s Catholic School and Church, I
Lord Open Our Lips and Our Mouth Shall Proclaim Your Praise
I grew up in a border town in California. This means that my whole life, I have lived in the vicinity of people speaking two languages all around me. I attended a private Roman Catholic elementary school called St.
All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient (Ex 24:7)
God has always had a special relationship with the Jewish people. The scriptures of the Old Testament are more accurately referred to as the Hebrew Bible because Christianity actually borrowed the books from Judaism. The first five books of
Systematic Theology in the City
How many of us were taught as children that we were not supposed to question things that were told to us by adults? I was taught this as a youngster and I was told that this was especially true
I’m a catholic and so are you!
When we say the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed, we affirm that “We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.” Have you ever noticed we don’t say “one, holy, Episcopal, and apostolic Church”? What do you suppose
So What IS All This Stuff About Privilege Anyway?
There’s a word that gets tossed around a lot these days and it seems to be a hot-button issue. The word I’m talking about is “privilege.” Sometimes people talk about concepts like “white privilege” or “male privilege” or “straight
If at First You Don’t Succeed…
When I was young I was afraid of trying new things. It wasn’t because I didn’t want to learn how to do new things. Instead, it was because I did not want to feel the sting of humiliation associated with