The young news clerk at the newspaper I edited in North Carolina had a healthy, if peculiar curiosity about Catholics and our beliefs. Did we really pray to statues? Did we pray in a language (Latin) also used by Satan? Did we really drink blood at Mass? Did all Catholics …

Our parents told us to stay away from the river, so naturally, that’s where we went. We would get muddy in the sour-smelling river muck that lined the banks of the Mississippi, right near what the local historians claimed was the starting point of the Lewis and Clark Expedition up …

It stood on the top floor of St. Bernard Catholic School, glorious in its art deco green and chrome glory, emblazoned with a “5-cent” symbol and little display windows. It was the closest thing to heaven the school’s 400 students could imagine — the candy machine. That machine, with its …

The Catholic Church seems to be engaged in a slugfest. I know a scant bit about boxing because my Dad enjoyed the sport, something he learned in the Army. He felt the manly art of self-defense was something I needed to learn because I was hopelessly not fleet of foot. …

Members of the archdiocesan central office staff recently attended a workshop that featured an extensive session on prayer. I’ll never pretend to be a theologian  but I have navigated tough situations and times over many years on instinct. That alone tells me that the Jesus’ teaching in Luke 11 should …

Danny Diego always wore a huge smile. A guy who had beat childhood polio, he was not a man terribly impressed with obstacles. But as circulation manager of the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in Ontario, Calif., 20 years ago, the smile would become a near grimace every New Year’s Day …

It’s one of those infamous dinnertime phone calls. “Hello, Steffen, this is Travis at Marketing Research Associates. You’ve been identified as an opinion leader and we value your opinions. I would like to ask you a few questions.” If you’re a registered voter and have a landline listed in one …

There’s much talk and much more being written these days in the Catholic world about evangelism – sharing the joy of the Gospel message with others. We’ve all met evangelists, seen them on TV or witnessed them giving their witness in any number of forums – including in the political …

When you write it down, you put yourself in the game. So says a writing coach who specializes in getting people past writer’s block. We have embarked on one of the great American adventures in citizenship — a presidential election year. As I write this, the Iowa Caucuses are a …

If anyone doubted that Major League Baseball plays a vital role in the life of this city, the hosting of the 2015 All-Star Game July 14 should have cleared the matter up. The celebrations, the recognition of local heroes and the crowds drawn downtown to fight weather, traffic, media tweeters …