The Day I Met St Therese of Lisieux
I was an Anglican priest the summer I met St Therese of Lisieux. I was living in England and had three months free between jobs, so I decided to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. I was going to hitch hike and stay in monasteries and religious houses on the way. The first leg of my journey took me a

posted 4:49:21pm May. 16, 2011 | read full post »

Of Anchorites and Stylites in Lent
St Simeon the Stylite  I have never understood the aversion most Christians have to fasting. Say the word 'fasting' and you get distasteful and alarmed expressions, as if to say, "Good heavens! That's rather unnecessarily extremist isn't it?" One suspects that they think you go in for 'physical

posted 4:12:07pm Apr. 08, 2011 | read full post »

Fr Dwight Longenecker on 'Liberal or Conservative?'
I always give people the benefit of the doubt. Some of my friends think it is a vice and some think it is a virtue. I hope I'm not being naive, but I really do try to see the best of every idea and every person. In this column More Christianity I've tried to share my philosophy that "a man is most o

posted 10:06:44am Mar. 16, 2011 | read full post »

Sorry Therapy: Blaming others Doesn't work, Confession Does
When we go to confession we are getting an excellent dose of inner therapy. Confession works, and forgiveness really does make us better. There are three problem areas of our lives which we can bring into confession. We are usually conditioned to ask forgiveness only for the things we have done. But

posted 1:28:07pm Mar. 10, 2011 | read full post »

The Holy Spirit, Me and the Church
The iconography of the church often reveals startling reminders of the truths of the faith. When Pentecost is represented we most often see the tongues of flame descending on the heads of the Apostles, but we also see the apostles gathered around the Blessed Mother-reminding us that Pentecost is not

posted 10:27:29am Feb. 18, 2011 | read full post »