This is how unconscious I am about the eating of food: It is Ash Wednesday, a day of fasting for Catholics, a fact I reminded myself of multiple times this morning when packing to head home from the conference I was at. I've also reminded myself that my 40-day sacrifice centers around giving up certain …
To cause a scene
The first time I called the police to intervene in family matters, I was about 12 years old. I can still see myself standing in the kitchen of my childhood, looking into the living room where my parents would not stop yelling at each other, announcing – as if were the most normal thing to …
Who is in your stable?
Pope Francis is not the first pope to speak of the Church's preferential option for the poor. Neither is he the first to criticize unbridled capitalism or critique harshly the belief in trickle-down economics. But his actions toward the poor and disenfranchised make Church teaching about the least of these much, much harder to ignore. …
Why sidewalk preachers make my life hell
Saturday, as I was finishing up my brief shift at the Tucson Festival of Books, I came across a sidewalk preacher, outfitted with a wireless mic and amplifier. The horrible thing is he'd set himself up near a long line snaking its way to the book-signing table of of R.L. Stine, one of America's most …
A man, a bus, and a big crucifix
There was a remarkable man at the bus stop last week. You couldn't miss him: He wore a hat adorned with a racoon tail and at least a dozen buttons connected to various veterans' groups. In spite of the cloudy day, he donned dark glasses, and around his neck hung two thick necklaces decorated with …
The nearness of God
Today's bus reading - which I did in haste and frustration and with a sense of complete failure because I'm still not living the Year of Faith the way I thought I would - was from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 6, relaying the story of how Jesus wasn't recognized as the Messiah in his …
Pro-life or no? The Church can't decide in this case
Bus reading today produced a story in my Facebook feed from the Colorado Independent regarding a sad malpractice case against St. Thomas More Hospital in Canon City. Here's the skinny: In 2006, a young woman, seven-months pregnant with twins, arrived at the hospital in distress. Her OB, who was also the doctor on call that …
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Riding the bus with ex-felons
It is freezing here in Tucson. This isn't hyperbole: Today it was 31 degrees when I got on the bus. Days when it is really cold - and likewise, in the summer when the temps register above 110 and life on the streets is a health risk - the bus gets crowded with the homeless …
Is that God on your shoulder?
A friend once told me that he would believe in God - or perhaps he said he'd consider believing - the moment God reached down, touched him on the shoulder and said, "Hey." I mentioned that sentiment to another friend - a priest who happens to be a cosmologist and one of the Vatican astronomers …
The alphabet above my doorway
Yesterday, the Feast of the Epiphany, I did something I recall doing only one other time, back when our eldest daughter was 9 years old: I wrote with chalk above my doorway. I was going to do this bit of religious graffiti with crayon since we didn't have chalk in the house, but my ever-sporting …
Renee Wrote This 