by Joseph Stoutzenberger In the 1970s, I taught religion in a Catholic suburban high school. An older man, part of the janitorial staff, cleaned the bathrooms and emptied the overflowing trash cans in the cafeteria after lunch. Generally, he was one of those invisible people, like wallpaper or one of the fixtures he cleaned, thatContinue reading “The Art of Seeing”
Tag Archives: Moral Theory
Creation Spirituality
It is rather interesting that the longest chapter in this slender volume is the introduction, where the author outlines his premise that Saint Francis of Assisi remains an example to the global community in the 21st century, especially when it comes to the Catholic Church’s very recent shift toward care for creation.
A House of Many Mansions
He said that “each person encounters God by their own way.” When Pope Francis made those remarks, he was not sitting in his study pouring over law books. He was looking out over the sea of young faces, each one of which he saw as beautiful.
Should People Follow Their Conscience? Seeking Common Ground
by Joseph Stoutzenber
I recently ran across a quote that spoke to me about my own ventures into writing about religious topics. In his book The Enthusiast, Jon M. Sweeney quotes religion scholar Wendy Doniger as saying: “It’s hard to imagine how you could write about any subject as sensitive as religion or history without outraging someone.”
Aidan’s Grandpas
All of a sudden, that person in front of us is not just an isolated individual separate from us but is someone who wishes us peace, as we wish them peace as well. In some more progressive settings, people actually move out of their pew and wander around, offering peace to as many people as they can reach. The symbolism is clear: We are family.
Compassion vs. Dispassion
I saw a value to general principles providing guidance for moral decision making, but I also feared that this top-down approach could miss the rich variety that exists among individual persons and the complexity of situations in which they find themselves.
The Holiness of the Ordinary
It struck me that what my friend was doing was reminding people that holiness wasn’t just present with the birth of Jesus two thousand years ago but that the holy exists in our world today, and in very ordinary circumstances.
Joseph Stoutzenberger 