Sudden Sadness and the World Around Me

Sudden Sadness and the World Around Me

A few Saturdays ago, I felt a profound sadness I hadn’t ever experienced before. I’d had a few tough disagreements with friends, and I was caught in the pains of my freshest (and, perhaps, fifteenth) attempt to quit a tobacco product. Classes were about to begin, and...
Worth Reading: What “the Other” Can Say

Worth Reading: What “the Other” Can Say

Embed from Getty Images Three months have passed since Navid Kermani – author, essayist, practitioner of Christian-Muslim dialogue – was given the 2015 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. Three months have passed, but his words have not faded. That night, wearing a...
New York Values

New York Values

I moved to New York three and a half years ago. After two years in Grand Coteau, LA, it was a jarring transition to find myself living on a block with a higher population than all of Grand Coteau. Despite this initial shock, I’ve come to feel at home in New York and I...
The Name of God Is Mercy – Review

The Name of God Is Mercy – Review

Embed from Getty Images   “Lord, forgive me if I have forgiven too much. But you’re the one who gave me the bad example!” This line, from a priest who had doubts about whether he was too forgiving in the confessional, is one of many priceless anecdotes from Pope...
Simple Gestures and Signature Graces

Simple Gestures and Signature Graces

The holidays in Spain are not unlike the holidays anywhere — food and family, travel and church, lots and lots of shopping. Of course there are cultural peculiarities but the basic rhythm is familiar — bursts of frenzy interrupted by occasional moments of...
The Magi Reach Their Destination

The Magi Reach Their Destination

Una foto publicada por Kino Border Initiative (@kino_border_initiative) el 6 de Ene de 2016 a la(s) 5:11 PST ¡Lograron! Braving this difficult time of year, the Magi made it to the manger. What better way to celebrate than a meal with the migrants awaiting their...
Our Society’s Throw-Away People

Our Society’s Throw-Away People

Embed from Getty Images   “Yeah, you know, it’s just like what Hegel says, right?” Wait, what? I run a mental checklist: Am I still in San Quentin?1 Yep. Did I just hear Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel name-checked by a tattooed man wearing a...
Yelling at College Kids

Yelling at College Kids

We’re in the middle of the College Football Playoff, which can only mean one thing: an outbreak of SGAAYACK Disorder. You have to see this: (Warning: language. The harshest language is bleeped out, but it doesn’t leave much to the imagination.) That hits a little too...
The Magi Continue Their Journey

The Magi Continue Their Journey

A photo posted by Kino Border Initiative (@kino_border_initiative) on Jan 1, 2016 at 3:00pm PST This is a continuing series. To see the first installment, click here.  Our Magi stopped off to beg intercession from Our Lady of Guadalupe on the feast of Holy Mary,...