by Brian Strassburger, SJ | Sep 18, 2017 | Humor ~ Approx. 5 mins
To all our youthful readers: stay in your 20s as long as you can! Ah, how fondly I remember that decade! It was filled with new experiences and opportunities for growth and adventure. But just as it did for me, the day will inevitably come for you: your 30th birthday....
by Lucas Sharma, SJ | Sep 15, 2017 | Faith & Politics, In the News, TJP Reads ~ Approx. 4 mins
In almost 500 pages, Hillary Rodham Clinton’s new memoir What Happened says what many might say in two words: she lost. Her explanation nuances her own personal mistakes, her emails, Russian intervention, Bernie Sanders, sexism, and the intersection of race and class....
by Colten Biro | Sep 14, 2017 | Film, Pop Culture ~ Approx. 3 mins
One might assume that a special release of a television show in IMAX would come with striking clarity and amazing special effects, but with ABC’s Marvel’s Inhumans I found myself struck not by the wonder and the ‘super’ but by the sheer humanity involved. While...
by Chris Williams, SJ | Sep 13, 2017 | Blogs, Spirituality ~ Approx. 4 mins
I spend time each week in a pod at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center – the JDC. Each pod is visible through thick panels of glass which, sadly, makes it feel like looking into an exhibit at the Lincoln Park zoo. But instead of animals, there are 14 to...
by Juan Ruiz, SJ | Sep 12, 2017 | In the News ~ Approx. 2 mins
The last time I was in a hurricane, I was four years old and remember a few things. We hid in a closet with the glow of a flashlight while wind howled outside. The next day I still remember seeing palm trees that had blown over and knew that it was a miracle, even...
by Marc Fryer, SJ | Sep 12, 2017 | In the News, Spirituality ~ Approx. 3 mins
As a Houstonian, the past few weeks have been a struggle. As a Houstonian living away from home, rather than dealing with flood damage and other chaos, I have struggled with being away from family and friends when they most needed help. As a Jesuit with a vow of...
by Bill McCormick, SJ | Sep 11, 2017 | Faith & Politics ~ Approx. 5 mins
By now most readers have heard about Steve Bannon’s disgusting comments on DACA. The bishops’ support for DACA, Bannon argues, can only stem from their crass self-interest: The bishops have been terrible about this. By the way, you know why? Because unable to really...
by Henoch Derbew | Sep 8, 2017 | Faith & Politics, Global Catholicism ~ Approx. 5 mins
Tomorrow our Church celebrates St. Peter Claver (1580-1654), patron saint of, among others things, African-Americans. But for me, and I suspect for not a few Black Catholics, Mass on September 9th has the same unsettling feel of the first day of Black History Month....
by Eric Immel, SJ | Sep 6, 2017 | Blogs, Spirituality ~ Approx. 4 mins
At night, when the world was sleeping, I would don an orange mask and take a shortcut to St. Matthew School. I’d quietly slide a heavy metal grate from one of the storm drains and, nunchuks in hand, leap into the darkness. The battle for my school was about to begin...
by Joshua Peters, SJ | Sep 5, 2017 | Letters for the Weary, Race ~ Approx. 12 mins
Come by here, my Lord, come by here. Come by here, my Lord, come by here. Come by here, my Lord, come by here. Oh Lord, come by here. It is a Sunday afternoon in late September, and the famed Chicago wind is still hot this far west of Lake Michigan. I am pulling up to...
