“One Nation Under God: Religious Symbols, Quotes, and Images”

March 20, 2026

I live on Capitol Hill, but I never paid attention to the religious symbols on its buildings. Discovering them prompted me to write the book One Nation Under God.

I asked a U.S. Senator to endorse it. “Even though I work on the Hill daily,” he commented, “I never noticed its numerous religious symbols.” I, like him, did not know of their presence.

In the Library of Congress, four banners contain Cardinal Virtues: prudence, temperance, justice, and fortitude. Near them is a quote from the Book of Proverbs, “Get wisdom and with all thy getting get understanding.”

There is the painting Scritores: monks copying manuscripts of the Bible that helped early Christianity grow.

Within its temple-like Reading Room is a statue of St. Paul, the champion of Christianity.

Across the street from the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court displays a statue of Moses seated, holding the Ten Commandments with Mercy at his feet. Inside, there is a white ivory-vein Spanish frieze on which Divine Inspiration and Wisdom are flanked on the right by Evil, Corruption, Deception, Slander, and Despotic power, and on the left by Harmony, Charity, Security, Peace, Defender of Virtue, Truth, and Justice

West of the Library is the U.S. Capitol with a statue of St. Damian, the Leper who became a leper and died serving them.

Also in the Capitol is a statue of St. Junipero Serra, who established monasteries throughout California. He is one reason why cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and many others have saints’ names.

There are also statues of Jacques Marquette, Eusebio Kino, and Mother Joseph, whose missionary spirit inspired American Christianity.

State flags lining the Capitol underground train are filled with inspiring mottoes. For example, “Dum spiro, Spero,” “While I Breathe, I Hope,” “Regnat Populus,” (The “People Rule”) “Mercy! Justice.”

The book One Nation Under God is filled with reminders of the inspiration behind our country’s success, reminders that we are one nation under God, E Pluribus Unum.

Like my senator friend and me, it is easy to overlook our country’s historical Christian foundations and its principles of virtue and gratitude for God’s gift of inspiring our founders. We need to wonder whether our interests are directed more toward building a city of man than a city of God, to center on our prosperity and Ersatz happiness, and to overlook the means for true sanctity, joyfulness, and peacefulness.

“What is Happening to Humanism?”

March 16, 2026

What must it be like to wake up and find yourself in a dark environment? To experience that your children are no longer able to go to their school, continue their studies, or go with their friends?

What must it be like to not live in your home, prepare a meal, and enjoy family spirit around the dinner table?

What must it feel like not being able to go to work, receive a paycheck, and experience the joy of creating home security?

What must it be like not being able to go to the park to watch your children play or just to relax personally?

What must it feel like to be called a crook, worthless, and an outcast?

What must it feel like to be innocent, incarcerated, and wait months for justice?

What must it be like to experience fear of the unknown, and how to survive?

Humanity is defined as possessing compassion, sympathy, generosity, and inclusivity.

ICE’s lack of human respect when rounding up so-called “undesirable law breakers” is despicable. Incarcerating them and treating them like a herd of cattle is heartless, immoral, and un-American.

How did we ever sink to this level?

There is the saying, “Tell a lie often enough, and people will believe it is the truth.” Today, untruthfulness is repeatedly taken for granted. Throughout history, untruthfulness masquerading as truth has been employed as a shrewd tactic. But it was wrong then and is wrong today because untruthfulness is evil and can become an undesirable habit, the habit of forgetting we are created in God’s image with a conscience and a moral compass. When these blessings have been overlooked, entire civilizations have self-destructed.

On the front of our dime is the quote “In God we trust.” On its back is “E pluribus unum,” “Out of many one.”

On the east side of the U.S. Capitol, there is a portrait of liberty surrounded by a woman holding the scales of justice and a woman leaning against an anchor, sending the message, “The hope of liberty is justice.”

When inspiring symbols are taken to heart, a nation shines with humanism par excellence, practicing sympathy, compassion, generosity, and inclusivity.

We must wonder whether today’s dark moments stem from our inability to be human, respectful, and inclusive, a sign of undesirable self-destruction.

“Unresolved Factions”

March 13, 2026

Baruch Spinoza once noted, “Schisms do not originate in a love of truth, which is a sort of courtesy and gentleness, but rather in an inordinate desire for supremacy.”  The same can be said of factions that fill the air today: conservatives longing to return to the past and liberals wanting to move forward; Democrats versus Republicans. The list of pros for this versus pros for that is endless. To better understand factions, let us start with their meaning and the role they play in society.

Factions are organized, often dissenting, groups or clicks within a larger organization, political party, religion, or society that share common specific interests or goals. Factions typically oppose or differ from the views of the commoners.  

Philosopher Epictetus points out a reason why factions go unresolved: “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” Here, we are pointed to a major reason for factions: we don’t know how to listen. Listening patiently requires tolerance, open-mindedness, and, especially, not being a know-it-all. Having preconceived ideas is natural. It becomes unnatural when controlled by a selfish ego lacking docility and humility. Factions are abnormal when meekness and rationality requiring silence are lacking.

Peter Drucke counsels, “The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said.” Implied is listening with the ear of the heart, creating an I-Thou relationship in which heartfelt conversation is embraced. Most concerning is that factions are never solved due to a lack of heartfulness. Why point this out? Factions fail because an open heart and mind are absent, and only winning the day counts.

Another reason that factions fail is due to the misuse of adjectives in rhetoric, in which a man's character may be learned from the adjectives employed. Adjectives sent a tone that can be inviting or uninviting. One quality of successful statesmen is knowing how to employ the right adjective needed to achieve agreement.

Bertolt Brecht alerts us to a caveat when assessing the health of our society: “Society cannot share a common communication system so long as it is split into warring factions.” How true, a sound communication system is imperative to its health and success. And how wise, either we treat communication prudently and with utmost reverence, or it will end up causing undesirable results.

“Be Gone Violence”

March 6, 2026

Violence is a pervasive challenge that is presently filling our homes with images of brutality that are negatively affecting our physical, psychological, and spiritual well-being. How then do we cope with it? One way is to study violence in depth and learn about its negative, destructive effects. Why point to study? It is because education is a potent spiritual vaccine for managing violence. 

When studied, we learn that violence is a physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone. It is a destructive natural force denoting brutality, injury, assault, and crippling another. 

Recently, it was stated, “US commanders want to make war with Iran as bloody as possible to bring about biblical end times, an Armageddon.” If we study this thinking in depth, we find it unacceptable because even well-intentioned violence always rebounds upon itself, because bloody violence creates the misplaced, dead, and psychologically damaged children, helpless elders, and refugees, and dehumanization at its worst. It is one thing to rebuild a bombed-out country, a phoenix rising from the ashes, yet scars, perpetual mistrust, and hate are another thing no bricks and mortar can erase. 

Albert Einstein once said, “Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism, how passionately I hate them.”

This is not the time to embrace a hate-mood that threatens our spirit of love. An essential quality of love is peace brought by order. When God created the world, God employed order to turn chaos into cosmos. Peace is not the absence of conflict, but of creative alternatives for responding to conflict – alternatives to passive or aggressive responses, alternatives to violence. The implication is the desire to practice the art of dialogue that brings combatants together around the bargaining table, and to realize that once war begins, the flavor of dialogue dissipates. 

Primarily, prayer is needed to dialogue with God on how best to unify divided hearts. Prayer directs us away from self-concerns and points us to God’s providence and what might be God’s plan during these trying times. 

Martin Luther King counseled, “Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also the violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.”

The third Glorious Mystery of the rosary reminds us of the power of the Holy Spirit’s gifts, one being fortitude, which is to possess a steadfast, fortified heart filled with heartfelt goodness, the perfect vaccine against violence. 

“Lent’s Precious Gift”

February 24, 2026

Desire a thoughtful meditation for Lent? Start with making Malvina Reynold’s musical lyrics on temptation into a prayer.

“Temptation, get away from me,
Temptation, get away from me.
I mean to shine like a little star 
Away up there where the good souls are,
Get away from me,
But not too far.”

“Temptation, get away from me, 
Temptation, get away from me. 
This worldly sea is tempest tossed,
I know that Jordan must be crossed, 
Get away from me--
But don't get lost.” 

“Temptation, get away from me, 
Temptation, get away from me.
I've listened to your siren song,
I've learned to know the right from wrong,
Get away from me--
But don't be long.”

Temptation usually carries negative meanings of being tempted, especially to evil. It also has a positive side, urging us to consult our conscience about what is better for us. For example, what are our standards for bettering our behavior?

The spiritual writer Thomas Merton states, “The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little.” Here we hear the admonition “You could do much better, your standards are too low.”

Temptations possess the ability to raise our nobility and steadfastness, as William Butler Yeats portrays: “Every conquering temptation represents a new fund of moral energy. Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before.”

To add to temptation’s positive side, James Branch Cabell adds another positive side of temptation. "There is not any memory with less satisfaction than the memory of some temptation we resisted.”

Joy is one of the qualities of love. In this case, loving oneself by doing what is right is the epitome of true joy. It should be added, “And we sleep better.”

Thomas a Kempis adds another positive side of temptation in saying, “We usually know what we can do, but temptation shows us who we are.” How true, temptation is an opportunity to experience the “stuff” of which we are made, to test our fortitude.

Franklin P. Jones gets to the very roots of where to begin in learning how to deal with temptation. “Nothing makes it easier to resist temptation than a proper bringing-up, a sound set of values - and witnesses. Successful learning how to handle temptation starts at home.

One of Lent’s precious rewards is the opportunity of turning temptation into the blessed good of making us better people.

“The Suspicious World of Propaganda”

February 20, 2026

“By the skillful and sustained use of propaganda, one can make a people see even heaven as hell or an extremely wretched life as paradise.”

The quotation by Adolf Hitler exposes the dark side of propaganda, leading us to ask how it is defined and how it is impacting us.

Propaganda is defined as the deliberate spread of misleading information to influence public opinion, beliefs, and actions in support of a specific cause, agenda, or person, often by appealing to emotions rather than logic. It uses selective facts, half-truths, or lies, presented through various media like posters, social media, or speeches to manipulate people into thinking or behaving in a desired way, though it can sometimes be used for positive campaigns.”

Propaganda does have a positive side. Take, for example, the Church’s Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, which uses it to inspire missionaries needed for foreign missions.

On the other hand, propaganda is often used to manipulate the ignorant, uninformed, and gullible, playing on their prudential weaknesses. Historically, our country has believed in two Godly laws: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, to wish and do the best for another, and to love your neighbor as yourself. The selfish use of propaganda is the antithesis of truthful, loving service.

Truthfulness, often missing in propaganda, is vital to a harmonious life. Lies, deception, and misuse of logic create chaos and demean humanity.

Due to the modern media and advanced psychological methods, we are increasingly slipping into a cesspool of unacceptable propaganda. How do we stem this rising tide?

Saint John Henry Newman gives us one consideration in picturing knowledge as the expansion of the mind. Knowledge, he points out, is illumination that leads to an expanding truthful understanding.

The influence of propaganda has existed since the beginning of time. Early great philosophers studied ways to employ rhetoric as propaganda, using humor, artful congeniality, appropriate mixtures of logical and illogical argument, flattery, and mob psychology.

Newman once said, “To live is to change and to be successful is to have changed often.” Our changing times are challenging us to deepen our knowledge when dealing with the growing age of propaganda, and to advance its daily use with postmodern honesty.

Propaganda has always had its place in history. When it is reverenced and based on truthfulness, it blesses us with helpful means for improving the common good.

“More Inspiration Please”

February 13, 2026

Are you incensed with the mind-numbing rhetoric filling our media? Do you pine for uplifting inspiration that lifts our spirit? If so, time to take another look at inspiration’s meaning.

An inspiring person is someone who positively influences others, making them feel enthusiastic, motivated, and eager to improve or achieve something great. They lead with courage, authenticity, and vision, often turning adversity into strength, and serve as powerful role models. An inspirational person just doesn't talk about ideals but acts on them, demonstrating resilience and integrity, thereby encouraging others to follow suit and make a difference.

When I was acting up, my mother would say, “You aren’t yourself.”  In other words, the real self I should be was absent, meaning kindness, consideration, and good manners were lacking.

When we examine those in leadership roles today, it is not an exaggeration to say they are often less inspiring than they could be. Ill disposition reigns. Authenticity is suspicious, and violent rhetoric overshadows consideration. Most disturbing is our youth, our future, imitating these undesirable models.

How can we counter this malaise?

One model to consider is creating an inspirational movement by collecting the best representations of inspiration and lauding and promoting them.

For example, there are stories of famous athletes donating substantial amounts of their earnings to charitable causes. And then there are selfless stars who remind fans they are part of a team that made them famous.

Often, biographies contain inspiring stories of people who dedicated themselves to improving people's lives. They are encouraging models of how it is done. The categories of inspiration on the move, like this, are unlimited.

What today calls for is that we become countercultural and combat the uninspiring with inspirational models and stories that are visionary, uplifting, motivating, and created by people of integrity.

My love of music often causes me to wonder how an inspiring composition can possess such enchanting beauty and to marvel at the inspiration behind it. Inspirational music is just one of millions of inspirations’ powers that lift our spirit to great heights and remind us that life is good.

Inspiration is out there waiting to be captured and spread. No better way exists to counter the uninspiring than to counter it with existing inspiration.

“You Are How You Eat”

February 9, 2026

“Our eating habits profoundly influence our overall well-being, shaping not just our physical health but also our mental and emotional states. When we make mindful choices about what, how, and when we eat, we are more likely to experience increased energy, improved concentration, and a greater sense of balance in our daily lives. Establishing healthy eating patterns can also foster a deeper appreciation for food and the role it plays in our culture and communities.”

In her book The Italian Soul, author Judith Valente writes that to practice the slow food culture, we don't need to travel to Italy; we just need to make it more wholesome and leisurely.

Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister writes, “The purpose of holy leisure is to bring a kind of spiritual material balance back into lives gone missing. It's meant to give people time to live thoughtful as well as productive lives.”

Undoubtedly, American eating habits could use an aggiornamento, an upgrading, restoring its spiritual leisure.

As an athlete, I learned that when my leg was hurting, I would rub it. It helped, but the cause was improper shoes. This taught me we sometimes forget how one part of us influences the other.

Dining is not just an eating habit; it also influences our physical, psychological, and spiritual health. The pace can reflect the overall pace of our lives.

In Italy, people don’t often eat and run; leisure is part of an evening meal. Restaurants respect this and will not hurry you.

When I mentioned this to a friend, she said, “The Italian way is not the American way. Parents are forever carting their children to after-school programs. Then they cart them home to do homework, eat a quick snack, and retire for the day.”

Busy-filled scenarios like this are a common way of American life. Although we can’t employ the holy hour leisure model, we can update.

In our home, you remained at the dinner table until everyone had eaten. There was no rushing off, no telephones, no outside distractions. And we were to eat everything on our plates. It was the nightly routine. Maybe this routine is outdated. But it is a routine reminding us of our routine.

To live is to change, and to be perfect is to change often. Old routines come and go, and new ones are necessary for updating our lives.

“Keeping Our Balance in Weighty Times”

February 3, 2026

Is your peace of mind weighed down, leaving you distraught and distressed? If true, what is needed to dissolve its darkness?

The word “serious” means weight, to be weighed down, and the word “peace” connotes order. Something seriously out of order is one reason for distress. Disorder generates a sense of chaos and turmoil, and destroys the foundations of peace.

Instead of looking for an outside solution, start by looking within ourselves, becoming solitary. To be “myself with myself alone.” This is difficult and almost unbearable in our perpetual motion existence. What is suggested is contacting our center, which is responsible for balancing our lives, to enlist our moral compass and let it guide us. What might be a good starting point to begin the process of improving our inner balance?

People have told me that when they are weighed down by disturbing events, they look at what needs to be put in order. They clean the floors, the kitchen, the bedroom, and the clothes, and change the home's decor. They enlist order that begets peace.

Pope St. Paul VI would add that after this step, the next step is to step back and admire the accomplishments, stop, and enjoy.

In Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, there is a scene in which Ivan is working in a brutal, dehumanizing Siberian gulag. It is early in the bitterly cold, dark morning. He works through the day laying bricks. As he completes part of his work, he steps back and admires it. Returning to his barracks, he recites a night prayer, “Thank you, Lord, for accomplishing good work in a brutal day.” Ivan dispels the weight of a horrendous existence with a glimmer of joy; he casts light and warmth on a dark Siberian existence. His prayer reflects that he is not alone but in the presence of God.

When weighty disorders afflict us, self-concern engulfs us, the alone, afflicted one. There is a tendency to look for outside help and forget God’s providence at work within us, to forget to say, “Thank you, Lord, for being at my side.

When we are weighed down, and everything seems out of control, don’t run outside, go inside yourself and reflect on what is altering your center’s balance. The solution is within us; seek it there.    

“Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Goods”

January 22, 2026

“What was going through your head?” Mom would yell every time we did something that was out of line.

Her cry remains relevant today, especially amid a proposed takeover of Greenland and territories protected by law and history. What is going through the heads of those causing a sense of selfishness, greed, egotism, and contradicting the Tenth Commandment, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods”

To crave, lust after, and especially to envy are synonyms of covet. To make our country the supposed envy of the world by its deportment is the antithesis of the sacred principles upon which it is founded.

Envy is “A painful emotion of desiring what someone else has (possessions, success, power) and feeling discontent or resentful about lacking it that often leads to negative feelings, bitterness, or wishing the other person lacked that advantage.”

Undesirable fallout from envy is addressed in sage quotes. For example, Margaret Thatcher defined envy’s devastation: “The spirit of envy can destroy, it can never build.” Another sage thinker reminds us, “Although hatred is active and envy passive, there is one little step from envy to hate. And the Book of Proverbs teaches us, “A heart at peace gives life to the body. But envy rots the bones.”

The possible takeover of Greenland raises several hypothetical questions. For example, who is on the list of takeovers? What, realistically, do we envision as countering the greed caused by envy?

It is our moral compass, and we need to fire our courage to replace senselessness with Godliness. To start, we must increase our gratitude to God for the good God bestows on us. The Canticle of Daniel is a beautiful portrait of those gifts: “Blessed be the sun and moon, the animals, fish, and verdant fields that feed us, the beauty of nature and the seasons that lift our heart, and a caring God whose caring love is endless.” To desire more precious minerals, territory, and sovereignties is the result of envy’s destructive nature.

Christ's final wish for his disciples was that they be united as is the Trinity. The primary model for the world of the United Nations is the model for creating heartfelt concern for the poor, the immigrant, the unfortunate, the helpless, our brothers and sisters, and to live a life of justice whose primary role is the responsibility for one another, to live God’s love par excellence.    

“May God’s Light Shine”

January 20, 2026

“What is your idea of Heaven?” “I will be with my parents and experience God’s light,” answered Pope Benedict XVI.

Like many of us, I prayed the Psalms and read the Bible in which light is addressed frequently, but never thought of it in depth until now. Pope Benedict changed that.

In the World Creation story, the first thing God does is to create light and dispel darkness. St. Paul’s conversion begins with being struck down by a great light. The feast of Epiphany portrays the Magi following the Light, and Moses sees God’s divine light, causing his radiant face to be covered.

Without light, life cannot exist. Undoubtedly, rain produces life-giving food. But without the sun’s light, rain is worthless; light is the epitome of life.

After Christ’s Resurrection, the Holy Spirit endows the apostles with spiritual light: the gifts of wisdom, counsel, knowledge, fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord, lifting God’s joyful life to its pinnacle.

One of the most touching experiences I have experienced has been associating with recovering alcoholics. They saw the light and finally admitted they were alcoholics. They realized they were addicted and humbly admitted needing help.

In the spiritual world, we call this conversion a metanoia, a change of heart.

Of all the organs we possess, the heart is the heart of them, the main control directing our life. In the souls of these alcoholics, a light had appeared in which they clearly saw the right road to travel.

When we return to the Creation Story, note that the first thing God does is to dispel darkness. Darkness is a lack of light that cripples the human and Godly spirit, drowning the gifts of the Holy Spirit in darkness.

Pope Leo is deeply concerned about our darkened environment caused by an increase in inhumanity, wars, persecutions, corruption, avarice, and a loss of God’s role in correcting life’s abrasions. Without sounding apocalyptic, much of what we are experiencing of God’s love and its spirit is being clouded by darkness, causing an increase in depression, disillusionment, and suicides.

Our times are especially calling for two gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom and courage. Wisdom is needed to get at the heart of inhumanity, to seek the essence of darkness, and courage must stand against today’s atrocities and march against them.

Our country is blessed by being “One Nation Under God.” Its greatest postmodern battle is to fight for God’s light to shine on us.

“Valuating Today’s Governing Deportment”

January 16, 2026

My grade school card contained grades in English, math, and spelling. But it also graded my deportment.

Bearing, demeanor, and manners are three synonyms of deportment that define a person’s behavior, modesty, breeding, good manners, self-discipline, and ethical sense.

Today we could use the renewal of grading deportment. Why say this? The Book of Proverbs gives us one reason. “Better good manners than good looks” points us to a virtue in which those who govern could improve by raising the question, How refined is their language with each other? Does it reflect modesty, self-discipline, and ethical discipline for achieving the best for the common good? How do we rank its behavior in terms of the direction of its manners? Who best to help us with this ranking?

As there is concern about the deportment of today’s leaders, so too was St. Paul in his time. “Guard against foul talk; Let your words be for the improvement of others, when this occasion offers, and do good to your listeners, otherwise you will only be grieving the Holy Spirit of God. Never have grudges against others, or lose your temper, or raise your voice to anybody, or call each other names, or allow any sort of spitefulness. Be friends with one another and kind and forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ.”

Today's speech has become increasingly vulgar and coarse, reducing its tone to trash talk. Instead of using it to improve relations with others, it is being wielded as a weapon to demean others, and it deserves a grade F.

It is no exaggeration to say that grudges and retaliations are daily occurrences driven by resentment and revenge. St. Augustine reminded us: “Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” Resentment and revenge are evil poisons of which he speaks.

Why is resentment so toxic? It is because it ignites a flurry of emotions: anger, sadness, frustration, confusion, and indignation, flooding our minds and leaving us with a sense of deep injustice.

Thanks to saints Paul and Augustine, we have a needed diagnosis of evil threatening our spiritual health. And thanks to these wise saints, we have spiritual doctors to cure them.

“Reality Conquering Life’s Deplorable Trends”

January 15, 2026

“Three great forces rule the world: stupidity, fear, and greed.”

 Albert Einstein’s insight summarizes today’s most undesirable anxieties needing in-depth scrutiny.

Folly and irrationality are synonyms for stupidity, the antithesis of wisdom. Folly denotes a clouding of the mind incapable of understanding the essence. No doubt, governing today can be mind-boggling, and without a doubt, this calls for capable, in-depth thinkers, an aggiornamento, an updating of consortia.

Today, much of our media environment is poisoned by fear, dwelling on hyped-up, unsettling news.

Add to this signs of increasing greed, with a lust for power, dominance, more money, and excessive possessions. Aristotle warned: “The high-minded man must care for the truth more than for what people think.” Greed tends to lead to untruthfulness to appease it, which in turn leads to high-mindedness. How can they be brought down to earth?

Poet and moral philosopher Dante Alighieri reminded us: “Worldly fame is but a breath of wind that blows now this way, and not that way, and changes name as it changes direction.”  Dante echoes the Book of Ecclesiastes, which reminds us that life is a “whisp,” echoing the song words, “Is that all there is?”

We have a standing joke on Capitol Hill that goes, “Do you remember Senator So and So?” To which the reply is, “Senator who?”

The book of Sirach reminds us of the end of our life and what we ultimately achieve. “A man grows rich by his sharpness and grabbing, and here is the reward he received for it; I have found rest and now I can enjoy my goods; but he does not know how long this will last; He will have to leave his goods for others and die. Preserve at your duty, take pleasure in doing it well and grow old achieving it.”

Christopher Walken gives sound advice for those who govern: “If you know how quickly people forget the dead, you’ll stop living to impress people.”

Dante, Sirach, and Walken’s wisdom raise the question, “At what level of conscientiousness are those who rule? What ultimately are their duties and priorities? What controls their thinking and actions most?

The word “statesman” means a respected, skilled, and wise political leader experienced in government, focused on public good, national/international affairs, and wise policy, often contrasted with a mere politician focused on power.

May a new age of statesmen and stateswomen bless us with an aggiornamento, an updating of our best conscientious thinkers.

“The Essence of Joy”

January 13, 2026

As I listened to Gustav Holst’s Jupiter, Bringer of Joy, St. Thomas Aquinas’ principles of joy and almsgiving came to mind, in which he stated that there is corporal almsgiving and spiritual almsgiving.

Corporal almsgiving is feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, harboring the harborless, visiting the sick, ransoming the captive, and burying the dead.

Spiritually, almsgiving is instructing the ignorant, counseling the doubtful, comforting the sorrowful, reproving the sinner, forgiving injuries, bearing with those who trouble and annoy us, and praying for all.

On spiritual alms giving, Aquinas quoted Pope Gregory the Great: “Let him that has understanding beware lest he withhold his knowledge; let him that has abundance of wealth, watch he slacken his merciful bounty; let him who is a servant of art be most solicitous to share his skill and profit with his neighbor; let him who has an opportunity of speaking with the wealthy, fear lest he be condemned for retaining his talent, if when he has the chance he plead not with him the cause of the poor.”

Note the common denominators. The first is putting aside our comfort to comfort the discomforted. Many of the hungry are often tattered, seemingly lost, and homeless. In cases like these, Pope Francis prompted the clergy, “To get out among the poor and get dirty.” The poor are sometimes hygienically unclean, which some helpers tend to avoid.

Interestingly, Pope Gregory pointed to some enjoying a wealth of knowledge as part of almsgiving. The pride of gaining knowledge can create forgetfulness of the poor seeking it. The lauded philosopher Confucius contended, “Give instruction unto those who cannot procure it for themselves.” Yes, be an almsgiver!

It is easy to concentrate on poverty’s dark side and neglect its joyful side. Almsgiving is a virtue leading to joy. Why say this? Because we are happiest when we create happiness. Just think of parents experiencing the joy of their children gushing over presents. In his treatise on joy, Pope Saint Paul VI spoke of the joy inspired when we step back and take pleasure in well-done work.

In giving alms, a masterpiece of goodness is created. In the Bible, we see God stepping back, admiring his creation, and uttering, “It is good.”

“The Common Good Is Alive and Well”

January 9, 2026

In The Greatest Sentence Ever Written, author Walter Isaacson explores the meaning of common ground and the American dream in the Constitution.

“In feudal England, common ground was the land where commoners --- yes, that’s where the word commoners comes from --- could all graze their herds,” Isaacson points out.

He continues it is not just about land societies but common grounds such as schools, libraries, police, and fire protection. These were called the commuiter bona, the goods in common.

Today, social and political scientists often point to the cleavage between rugged individualism and the embrace of the common good. Straightforward phrases best portray this division: “This is my world in contrast to saying this is our world.” “My concerns are primary in contrast to saying my concerns are universal and for the common good.”

The history of selfish-mindedness versus unselfish-mindedness has existed since the beginning of humankind.

Benjamin Franklin, to the contrary of this fact, lauded a type of common ground, where people were treated with equal dignity to serve their creator. He quotes the motto, Bona profundere Deum est, which translates, “To pour forth benefits for the common good is divine.” It nourishes the conditions for democracy in a free-market system. His thoughts are not only the basis of wholesome democracy but a religion-driven democracy. Christ, in His final admonition to his disciples, pleads, “That all of them may be one, as You Father, are in Me and I am in You.” Note how Christ emphasizes unselfish unity. How then do we promote this spirit of unity and human concern for the common good?

One way is to survey those who are already living that spirit. In the parish I serve, there is a parish pantry. It is a commons for the less fortunate to graze and be replenished.

City ambulance sirens are forever signifying a commons for those seriously suffering.

Churches abound as commons for the homeless, as do doorways along Pennsylvania Avenue, where beggars often receive handouts of food. When giving to them, I have witnessed these donors not only donate but also speak a word of concern and support to them. The list of commons and of caring, loving communities is endless. Their charity and benevolence are a joy to behold in the midst of life’s poverty, representing an American dream come true.

“Facing Aging”

January 7, 2026

In Italian, Maledetta vecchiaia means “Cursed be old age.”

Several reasons for uttering this exist, one being the loss of loved companions. Added to this is the darkness of having nothing to look forward to or waking up with nothing to do. Topping the list of aging’s problems is the loss of health, stamina, and fear of death.

Enter Robert Frost, who encouraged us to see our present situation in a positive light, the light needed to pierce the world of negativism.

“The woods are lonely, dark, and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.”  

When aging dampens the flame of hope so does forward thinking that prompts us to be forward thinking.

Before we succumb to hopelessness and paralyzing depression, the spirit of prudence dictates that we consult energizing wisdom that has the power to move us out of the doldrums.

When troubles were taking hold of us, my mother would say, “That is in your head, face up to it and move ahead.” As my mom pointed to the head, so did Albert Einstein focus on it to overcome the anxiety of aging. He stated, “Learn from yesterday, live for today, and hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.”

Note the same spirited message of moving forward that Frost’s message connotes. Here, we are reminded to examine what is darkening our minds and why we are depressed. Is fearing aging the result of pining for a past that may have been wonderful, but is over? Are we so locked into the past that it has stifled our ability to embrace forward thinking? Aging reminds us that the past is no longer, sameness has been ruptured, do we seek sameness to the detriment of our physiological health requiring that we keep moving? To resurrect the past is to dig up the dead and mourn, to allow grief to stunt our joy, hopefulness, and faith in the future. Have we let the darkness of aging and also of tumultuous times smother the light that still shines on us? Is our mind overwhelmed to the point of losing the zest for embracing life’s challenges and envisioning miles still to come?

The ball is not only on our court but in our heads --- time to get out there and play the best game of our lives left to us.

Undoubtedly, aging comes with health problems and loneliness. If we reflect on its possibilities for deeper wisdom and understanding, for putting our life in better order, and for deeper faith in God our Creator, its light-filled merits far outweigh its dark side.

As long as we have our senses, we have the choice to age gracefully or gracelessly.

“Andre Bessette’s Inspiring Warm Heartedness”

January 6, 2026

Beautiful memories abounded as I celebrated the feast of St. Brother Andre Bessette CSC. As chaplain to Andre’s Holy Cross Brothers, I experienced their inspiring kindness. Some brothers worked on the grounds while others taught at the University of Notre Dame and their Junior College.

Andre Bessette was neither. He was sickly, uneducated, and lived a simple life. His desire to be a Holy Cross priest was refused. Fortunately, a kindly priest experiencing his holiness helped him become a Holy Cross brother. For four decades, his ministry was as church doorman.

He not only welcomed people but listened to their concerns and pains, causing people to seek him in hopes of a cure. Word spread, causing thousands to seek his miraculous healing, mirroring Christ’s caring mercy.

Ironically, I encountered the spirit of Andre in Portland, Oregon, which I visit frequently. On the train from the airport into Portland, tents of the homeless were everywhere, as they were in the city as well. I say this ironically because the neighborhood in which I lived contains the church of Andre Bessette, dedicated to serving the poor. Its novena covers the enormous tasks in ministering to the poor.

From all evil let us pray:

From the brutality of and violence;

From the hardship of poverty and loss;

From the addiction of drugs and alcohol;

From the fear of isolation and hardship;

From the evil of war and hatred;

From the corruption of sin and darkness;

From the terror of gunshots and stabbings;

From the suffering of illness and disease;

From the cold of loneliness and self-pity;

From the bitterness of homelessness and empty pockets;

From the plague of prostitution and pornography;

From the chains of mental illness and all discriminations;

From the desperation of pride and jealousy;

From the silence of apathy and neglect;

From the wounds of sexual molestation and abuse;

From the deserts of ignorance and suffering;

From the arrogance of racism and greed;

From the burden of grief and despair;

From the torture of broken promises and empty commitments;

From the doubt of selfishness and insecurity;

From the web of egoism and self-centeredness;

From the outrage of revenge and the death penalty;

From the seduction of materialism and gossip;

From the sins of gluttony and avarice;

From the dark cloud of sexism and ageism;

From the trap of cynicism and refusal to forgive;

And from all evil.

A gigantic list of woes and immorality requiring the big heart of Andre Bessette.

“The Power of Wisdom”

January 5, 2026

The tension was intense as I stood on the edge of Lake Michigan, waiting to start the triathlon swim. The cause of pressure was competing with fifty other swimmers at the start, then bicycling twenty-six miles, followed by a 10-k run.

Suddenly, the Nike theme “Just do it” came to mind, reducing the stress and lifting my spirits. Taking it to heart was exactly what I needed.

Much of my early upbringing was filled with wise quotes. In Italian, I learned “Chi va piano, va sano e va longtano,” or “He who goes slowly goes safely and a long way.” It is a reminder that patience and reflection are key to success in anything we undertake. Lao Tzu reminds us, “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

I also learned “Chi dorme con i cane si sveglia con le pulci,” which translates to “If you sleep with dogs you wake with fleas.”  As a child, my mom would repeatedly say, “Only go with those who make you better.”

Quotes filled with wisdom and virtue abound with insights into living the best of life. For example, Albert Einstein reminded us, “Whoever is careless with truth in small matters cannot be trusted in important affairs.” He also stated, “The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.”  How true, we are not meant to be spectators but contributors to the common good and truth.

And then Marcus Aurelius asserted, “Nothing happens to anyone that he can’t endure,” echoing Christ reminding us, “My grace is significant.”

If we examine the impact of wise sayings, we learn we are creatures of imprinting, learning first attachments that are stamped within us. My wise Italian admonitions, for example, were the attachments of ideals planted in me for my well-being.

As a child, I sat at my Italian grandfather’s knee, who never went to school but knew life. I can still hear his voice, “Gini, this is the way and the truth of life.” And too, my dad’s patience was an example of “va piano” “Take your time and get it straight.”

Often, I observe parents whose children exude energy, requiring exceptional energy to keep up with them. And yet it is well worth the effort when forming a newborn human being in the values of life.