THE CHALLENGES OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Father John Walsh

The twenty-first century is opening many new ways to understand ourselves as human beings. In fact, we are writing a new human narrative; perhaps even creating a new way of being “human.” To whom can we turn for advice and counsel to find our way and to become comfortable in a brave new world. Charles Taylor has impressively treated how we became who we are in his opus Sources Of The Self – The Making Of Modern Identity and writes: “the intention of …

JUST JUMP
Rabbi Michael Whitman
 

The Exodus from Egypt, which Jews celebrate on Passover beginning this Friday night, April 19, is an event that creates our identity as Jews. It is also an event that provides inspiration and meaning for everyone, in every generation struggling under oppression. Its significance applies equally to nations, peoples, and individuals. Here is a message each of us can use in our own lives.
Shortly after leaving Egypt, and thinking they were finally safe and free, the Jewish People see Pharaoh’s mighty army coming after them. With the …

WILL THE CHOICE BE AI OR CONSCIOUSNESS?
Father John Walsh

A modern author raises the question, will we chose AI or consciousness? It is a question that we must all face. Ai has already turned us upside down. We are the implication if we choose AI? The effects o AI are already at work in our lives. AI is reducing the number of menial tasks human beings were forced to do. However, the greatest effect so far is that AI is turning each of us into an algorithm. What is an algorithm? …

YOUNG WOMEN AND MEN ARE CHALLENGED
Father John Walsh

General Romeo Dallaire, in the latter part of his book, They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Lie Children (Random House Canada. 2010), challenges youth to accept the task of eliminating child soldiers. I believe Romeo Dallaire’s words to youth could be adapted as a Charter of Challenges for Youth. He enjoins youth to not wait for leaders to take action but to assume responsibility as youth and act as leaders. Dallaire reminds youth here at home that they must find inventive ways to …

A NEW YEAR BEGINS … 2019
Father John Walsh

At the beginning of 2019 please take the time to reflect on the importance of interfaith dialogue. Perhaps in these turbulent times it may well be indispensable. Sorry! It is indispensable. The world demands it of our religions of the world to come together and, despite our theological differences that may well exist forever, the only commonality we all share should be our deep concern for our sisters and brothers throughout the world. Too many of them are suffering and in pain, suffering …

THE USE OF THE IMAGINATION IN PRAYER
Father John Walsh

Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesuits, had his remarkable imagination drive the mental quality of his thought. Ignatius first grasped the importance of the imagination during his long convalescence from his battle injuries. His key insights about God came through his imagination. He understood the source of his feelings and it is the foundation of the process of Ignatian discernment. He continued to make liberal use of the imagination and integrated imaginative prayer into the approach to …

WHAT DO YOU SEE WHEN YOU PRAY?
Rabbi Michael Whitman

Prayer is vital for our three traditions and I am thinking about ways in which our prayers and methods of prayer are similar and different. One aspect of Jewish prayer that even many Jews are not conscious of is visualization. Many of us may not realize that visualization is actually an important part of traditional Jewish prayer. While many of us are familiar with the Jewish requirement that we face Jerusalem when we pray, Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan (in his Mishneh Brurah) …

FORGIVING GOD
Rabbi Michael Whitman

“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. …

DOUBT IS THE JOY OF BEING A BELIEVER
Father John Walsh

We often forget that there is one thing that faith and belief require and that is the element of doubt. Unfortunately many people allow their doubts to overwhelm them. Doubts are challenges to rethink faith and belief. The reality is that there can be no faith without a good dose of doubt. The lack of doubt would turn faith and belief into absolutes. Absolutes define faith and belief in such a way that divide believers from non-believers. The defense of the …

FINDING OUR WAY IN A SECULAR WORLD
Father John Walsh

We are surrounded by a secular culture in which few people publicly make mention of God. Today, God is shelved into history. In our Western culture people can live and see themselves thriving without any reference to God. The culture has voided God. The question still begs to be asked: who is the God we have abandoned? Many people express the thought that the God they believed in let them down. Prayers were not answered when people pleaded with God to help …