Sister Pamela Smith

Every state in the Union and 100 nations: that’s what the registrar’s office told us made up our student body.  I was working on a doctorate in theology at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and teaching […]

Three weeks ahead of schedule, Bishop Craig Dixon of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints presented two ministers, our local rabbi, and me with a rosca. We were at a celebration […]

As the season progresses, monks and nuns and parish choirs will be chanting the O Antiphons. The Divine Office, just before the evening recitation of the Magnificat, and the Gospel acclamation announce, with a touch […]

One day he and she are precious Pre-K tykes practicing for Christmas shows in which “the cute factor,” as early childhood teachers call it, overcomes all flubs and goofiness. There will be at least one […]

It happened again this past Friday. Every Nov. 13, when the Church remembers St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (Mother Cabrini), I can’t help but recall the time I was deemed a trespasser and asked to leave […]

Let us hope that, as this column is read, we are not embroiled in something like the hanging chads fiasco of the Y2K American presidential election. Or something worse.   To put it far too mildly, […]

Fratelli Tutti” (literally “Brothers All”) is the way Pope Francis opens his latest encyclical, quoting the way St. Francis of Assisi addressed everyone — rich or poor, male or female, Italian or non-Italian, Christian or […]

The script that forms the title of Christie Purifoy’s 2019 work of non-fiction looks at first glance like the word “Peacemaker.”  So someone surveying the book rack might expect that this book will be about […]

We’re all familiar with the title phrase from Ecclesiastes 3.  It’s part of a frequently used first reading at Masses of Christian Burial and is quoted in eulogies. If one listens to golden oldies, it […]

Every summer except this one, my religious community has gathered sisters from around the country and held workshops at our motherhouse. These include theological updating, reports on outreach, ministerial ventures, and reflection on what we call […]