Paul Luvera Journal

Let me begin with a clear warning that what follows is preaching and, worse, preaching by someone wholly unqualified to preach to anyone. But, blame it on the fact that last Sunday my wife and I went to church in Scottsdale and the reading was from Luke.15:11, Jesus famous parable about the prodigal son. The homily by the priest that followed this reading seemed uninspired. I confess to having mentally excused myself from listening any more and to indulge in…

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Early in his term Pope Benedict presented himself as someone different than what his past arch conservative views had shown him to be. But now he has made it obvious that he hans’t changed his views at all. In a 131 page document, the Pope has announced the continued adherence to the Vatican’s ban on communion for divorced Catholics who remarry and has delegated to Bishops to decide if Catholic politicians should be denied communion if they support abortion or…

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I’m giving a talk at a Seattle University seminar dealing with the topic of legal ethics. My talk deals with truth during jury selection. In preparing for the seminar I’ve come across some ideas that are worth pondering. Take the John Godfrey Saxe poem The Blind Man and the Elephant. It’s really a story, poem and metaphor about the how we can conclude, from limited information, that we have the whole truth whereas we really only have a part of…

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Fr. Richard P. McBrien is a Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. He is a syndicated columnist. McBrien’s column is regularly published in the National Catholic Reporter where he recently reviewed a book, Freeing Celibacy by Fr. Donald Cozzins who teaches religious studies at John Carroll University at Cleveland. McBrien points out that the Catholic Church had a married priesthood and even married popes during the first one thousand years of its existence. It wasn’t until 1074…

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For a long time I have admired Dorothy Day as a modern day saint. She was a normal human being who made moral mistakes during her life yet came to a point where she was able to devote her life to her religious principles. For me, love of God has been a lot easier then the second commandment of love of neighbor. Love of God allows me to have a telephone booth relationship with God. I go in the booth,…

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On December 24, 2006 Tim Russert had Jon Meacham, editor of Newsweek and Pastor Richard Warren, author of  A Purpose Driven Life on Meet the Press. It was an interesting broadcast. Two areas of discussion were significant in my view. During the interview Warren made the point that the problem with China is that they want to have the economic freedom of the West without a moral underpinning. He argued that China could not have the success of the West…

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Blaming others is a national pastime. We have all seen people use excuses to avoid taking responsibility for their actions. It’s a lot easier to hide behind a lame excuse then to own up to the truth and take our medicine like we should. Most of us have used some kind of cover up to avoid being accountable for what we have done. Blaming others for our wrong doing is so old it is in the Bible. When God ask…

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Keith Ellison was elected from Minnesota to Congress as the first Muslim to serve in the House. When he announced he would take his oath of office on the Quaran, not the Bible, there was an nationwide outcry, especially conservative Christians. The American Family Association urged it’s 3.4 million members to write their congressman to pass a law requiring a Bible to be used for all oaths of office. But Religion News Service reports that he wouldn’t be the first…

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The German and Belgian colonists to Rwanda brought with them the Catholic religion. It is Africa’s most Catholic country. Both ethnic groups – Hutu and Tutsi were converted and it became the dominant religion in the country with a membership of some sixty five percent of the population. Throughout the decades the church buildings were considered places of safe refuge during times of political and social unrest. However, in 1994 during the genocide against the Tutis, these churches became places…

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Roman Catholic Archbishop Brunett is the bishop of the diocese which includes my local parish church that my wife and I attend. Just before the last election he wrote in our diocesan newspaper, the Catholic Northwest Progress, his views about Catholic voting. He says Bishops and clergy have the right to advocate moral and social teachings in the political process. He claims it is the duty of every Catholic "to form their conscience in accord with Church teaching." That would…

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