Recently, the Italian Statistical Office (ISTAT) published data on the sizable number and relatively healthy status of centenarians living in Italy. With so much negative news concerning various aspects of world population—e.g., the decimation of the nuclear family, low birth... Read More →

For those of us who really love summer (I actually thrive in heat and humidity!), the sunny yet cooler days at the end of August are bittersweet. This is especially true for me, as it is a reminder of loss. It has been eight years since my mother died, of cancer, on August 30,... Read More →

The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips (Psalm 16:4). What is meant exactly by the above verse is not entirely clear. Were the drink offerings to other gods literally of... Read More →

  Do you see this woman? (Luke 7:44).   In the Gospel lesson cited above there are three people. There is the woman, “a woman of the city, who was a sinner,” a woman who wept at the feet of Jesus, and anointed him there. Then there is Simon. Presumably a law-abiding... Read More →