The following reflection is directed to DePaul University’s 2023 Graduates. Most of the days of our lives pass by without leaving a trace. They accumulate in that nameless tomb that is unconsciousness. But there are a few days that we always remember because they mark moments that summarize long experiences, meaningful achievements, or even dramatic […]
In my studies of philosophy, I learned that several existential philosophers, including Albert Camus, asked how we can face and reduce suffering when we ourselves often cause it for others. This profound contradiction is what they call absurdity. Please note that I will be using this existential understanding of profound absurdity throughout this text. In […]
A few weeks ago, as my Easter worship celebration was coming to an end, the pastor offered a series of prayers. As I contemplated the words flowing from her heart, I was struck by one prayer in particular because it was the first time I’d heard an interfaith prayer in my mainline Protestant church. The […]
For almost two years now, I have been photographing the discarded masks I’ve encountered on my walks around the city. By the end of the autumn quarter 2021, I had accumulated close to 500 mask photos, and this practice has continued. When I traveled to Australia in June 2022, I found masks on the ground […]
Neighborhood communities. Elementary schools. Shopping malls. Concert venues. Busy business districts. Nightclubs. University campuses. The evidence has become resoundingly clear that violence affects all and may erupt unexpectedly at any time and in any place. The ripple effect of a shooting, such as that at Michigan State University, or in a Chicago neighborhood community, or […]
Who Brings Out the Best in You? Our wellness and thriving are not isolated or solo tasks. Rather, our well-being has very much to do with the network of relationships within which we live and give preference to in our daily lives. As we think about individual wellness, an important contribution to our thinking can […]
Today’s opening reflection to this year’s Busy Person’s Retreat invites us to consider “How can I stay spiritually healthy so I can discern what is essential in life?” A rite of passage in making a good retreat must surely begin with slowing down and becoming aware of the present moment. With this in mind, as […]
Each of you reading this today has a unique identity and place in the world. Indeed, it is humbling to think that no one quite like us has ever existed on this planet, and there will never be another person like you again! If we want to understand how to take better take care of […]
“Personalism … gave me metaphysical and philosophical grounding for the idea of a personal God, and it gave me a metaphysical basis for the dignity and worth of all human personality.” Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.[1] Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the most inspiring and influential figures of the twentieth century, not only […]
Dorothy Day beautifully captured the spiritual journey of many when she wrote, “We have all known the long loneliness and we have learned that the only solution is love and that love comes with community.”[1] Our Vincentian legacy was pioneered by people who created communities of both religious and laypeople dedicated to noble missions. We […]