Last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) published it's first Global Report on Diabetes.  I happened upon the report by chance while in the midst of my doctoral research, and I'm very glad I found it.  The report includes the most recent (2014) data on this chronic and serious disease, and the numbers were scary.  Globally, it's estimated that 422 million adults...

Sadly, I've only been to Ireland once, and I was about fourteen when I travelled there with my mother for our first big trip abroad. It was an adventure, to be sure, and I think we both caught the bug for travel on that trip, and it's remained with me to this day. My mom, God rest her, was ready to go on a moment's notice. She loved to travel, and together with her children, she got to see a...

I don't know about you, but I love short prayers.  As I've gotten older, I've come to realize that it's not the length of the prayer, but the sincerity of the person praying it.  That's not to say that there's something wrong with long prayers, but we shouldn't discount those that are brief and to the point. 

One such prayer which I've come to love is found at the very beginning...

In the Catholic Church, today's feast day honors a saint from Philadelphia, Katharine Drexel (1858-1955). While he was visiting Philadelphia this past fall, Pope Francis talked about an event that would change St. Katherine's life and effect the lives of countless people who benefited by her ministry and the millions she gave away in service to the poor. Here's what the Holy Father said of her,...

You can sense it in the air.  You can see things happening all around, if you take the time to look.  It's sixty degrees today in Maryland, and we are ever so slowly coming out of another long winter.  Sadly, the change from winter to spring is not moving as fast as I would like.  Witness to that is the fact that my front lawn is still completely covered in snow.  The...

The season of Lent has arrived a bit early this year, but here we are.  Ash Wednesday, the official first day of this penitential season, reminds us that, in the end, "you are dust, and unto dust you shall return." Hearing that timeless line is always a jolt to my system, and I guess that's what this whole liturgical season is about.  Life is short, and how we live it has...