Every year, September 21st is a day to remember. While there are 365 days in a year, each day presents us with different opportunities. That day I reflected on the 20th Anniversary of the United Nations Assembly declaring the day the annual Internati...

The first week in August, 1945, I was downtown in Seattle when it was announced that Japan had surrendered following the dropping of the atom bomb. Seattle’s streets were filled with people going wild with joy. People were jumping on police cars and...

I’ve experienced some of the upsets that America faced over sixty years ago. It was 1960, a presidential election year. Richard Nixon was the Republican candidate and John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, was the Democrat. The foundation for the election a...

For many years there was a Skagit County 300-acre dairy farm owned by a couple with a family. As the couple grew older, they decided to sell the farm. There was a man in Seattle who was interested in the purchase of a farm. His name was Rabbi Raphael...

The dictionary, in its definitions of family, includes “all those descended from a common ancestor.” During my years as a priest I have become acquainted with hundreds and hundreds of families. Many were happy and united. Others were devastated by...

I offer a unique idea for bringing about peace between Israelis and Palestinians. The idea is based on an incident in World War II. It was told to me by a German priest, Bernard Haring. He was serving in the medical corps in the German army when the...

I read with great interest the article of March 22,2021 in The Seattle Times. The headline said, “A Christian Vision of Social Justice.” From previous columns I had learned that the writer, David Brooks, is of the Jewish faith but is very ecu...

One of the greatest stories of reverence for life is found in the Jewish scriptures, in Chapter 2 of Exodus. Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, gave an order to all Egyptian subjects. “Throw into the river every boy who is born to the Hebrews but let t...

One day as Jesus was preaching in Galilee to the apostles, as recorded in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 10, an unusual event must have taken place. A sparrow must have flown past or rested on the branch of a tree and drawn the attention of Jesus. He s...

The dictionary describes tenderness as being acutely sensitive to pain and the feelings of others. Pope Francis, in his new message to all people, said, “Tenderness is the path of choice for the strongest, most courageous men and women.” America pre...

The word ubuntu comes from the Bantu tribe of South Africa. It was introduced into general use by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and prioritizes inclusivity over exclusivity, community over competition, hospitality over hostility, dialogue over...

After spending years in Jewish-Christian dialogue I am heartbroken at the article in the Seattle Times of Sept. 28, 2019. It told that in Seattle there has been “almost 400 percent increase in hate crimes since 2012 – impacting Jews and other m...