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The Replacement Refs and Catholic Social Teaching
Here in Boston the students have descended upon us from the four corners of the earth, the mornings are crisp, and the earliest of leaves have started to change colors, but nothing announces the...
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A concerned parent runs for office, wins my vote
In college my friends often used to say that they had never met anyone as proud to be from somewhere as I was to be from Boston. And why shouldn’t I? We have every benefit of living in a world class...
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A Truly Catholic Political Dialogue
The presidential election has shown us just how deeply our house is divided. I dare you to find a card-carrying Republican who has anything good to say about President Obama, or a registered Democrat...
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Finding the Middle Way
Like many people, there have been certain books that have made a profound impact on me and helped to define certain periods of my life. In middle school it was Cheaper By The Dozen, and to this day I...
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E pluribus cor unum
An old friend sent me a text the other day informing me that he was taking a break from a long car trip to read in a coffee shop somewhere in the Deep South. He has, shall we say, a flair for the...
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Coming to the Table
Over the years I have had any number of nicknames, but I’ve never particularly cared for any of them. In high school, the name Keebler had its genesis when someone noticed that my ears do not curl...
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The Problem: A Culture of Failure
First of two parts For most people I know, home movies from one’s childhood are a dreaded bore, and something to be avoided at all costs. For myself and the kids I grew up with, collectively known as...
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The Solution: A Culture of Success
Second of two parts Not so long ago, if a cop found you behind the wheel after you had a few too many, he would put you in the back of a cruiser and take you home. Today, however, that second car trip...
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Budgeting as if we were all responsible for all
During the fiscal fiascos of the past couple years, both parties have seemed to enjoy seeing how close they can get us to the precipice without falling into the abyss. Then, upon reaching a deadline,...
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Shaking up the Conclave
Madison. Hamilton. Adams. Dennis the Constitutional Peasant. The list of men who have contributed to our understanding of the ideal form of government is as long as it is distinguished. And, as the...
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How I Hope to Remember My First Boston Marathon
I don’t swear very often. As I used to tell my students, I think the use of vulgarity is the sign of a poor vocabulary. I still believe that, but there is also certainly something to be said for Mark...
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A Marathon of Emotions
Mike Rogers is a better person than me. I’ve never met him before, and if I was to trip over him I still wouldn’t have a clue who he was. Still, when I read his open letter to Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one...
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Blessing of the Bikes
After the snow-covered winter and the accompanying days off from school we had here in Boston, most school kids won’t be able to enjoy summer until nearly July. For many others, summer begins each...
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Millennial’s Summer Reads: Brian’s Books
I almost always have a list of books I want to read, and it never seems to get any shorter, but while on vacation last week I made a good dent in it. Being fortunate enough to have a family vacation...
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Why I Hate Sleep
Of my many quirks, one of the most distinctive is that I hate to sleep. I really do. Every night when I finally turn off the lights, it’s like a personal failure for me. Five and a half to six hours...
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Pray by doing
I’m taking a course this fall which marks my first return to the classroom in several years. During the shopping period, the week when professors give an overview of their courses before you have to...
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Fishers of Men and Women, Go to Those You Wish to Catch
I’d like to think that when my now-brother-in-law asked me to stand by his side at his wedding it was to show off what a good looking family he was marrying into, and that my sister wanted me to offer...
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Why the Cardinal Newman Society Should Listen to Pope Francis
The Harvard Crimson recently had a profile of the freshman class called Sex, Drugs, and MacBook Pros, with the implication being that Apple products are Harvard’s version of rock ’n roll. What is the...
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Evangelization: He’s doing it right
There is a parish down the street from my office that I have been to occasionally, but as I am not usually here on Sundays I don’t regularly attend. You can find me there most often on holy days, and...
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They Ended Up Teaching Me About Life, and Faith
A couple weeks ago David Brooks wrote an astonishingly un-self-aware column in which he dismissed those who wrote college essays entitled “I Went to Panama to Teach the Natives About Math but They...
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