I have a kind of remote cousin, Gerry Moore, in Ireland (County Waterford) who e-mails lots of news about relatives in Ireland or other Irish events. He sent me a review in the Irish Times of the recent book by Derek Scally, The Best Catholics in the World: The Irish, the Church And the End of a Special Relationship Penguin, 2021. I decided to buy and read the book and it was a stunning and very interesting read.

I have admired the writings of James Martin S.J. for many years. But his new book is the one I have found most helpful and, at times, deeply moving spiritually. It is long at 400pages,but Martin is such a clear-cut and available writer, that it does not seem so long. I really can’t recommend the book highly enough. It consists of 18 chapters and insists that prayer is something everyone can do and learn about.

What the Resurrection of Jesus promises is that things can always be new again. It is never too late to begin anew. No sin is unforgiven. No betrayal is final. Grief, anger and bitterness can give way to surprise, good humor and delight. Every form of death can be overcome.

I was invited by the Thomas More Society of Catholic Lawyers who awarded me the Thomas More Award at the last red mass for Catholic Lawyers, Oct. 15, 2020, to give three talks for them on Pope Francis’ recent book. Let Us Dream: The Path to A Better Future, this Lent. I gave the first one on March 18th. Having read the book, taken copious notes and doing a PowerPoint for each talk, the book has stayed with me, challenged me and edified me. The book consists of a prologue, three chapters and an epilogue. I also now have decided to write a blog about it since it is such a challenging book.

My heart is heavy as I begin to write. This is a very difficult week for a number of reasons. The first one is a story in this morning’s paper which details the horrific events in Atlanta – additional, bigger, more tragic versions of the rising anti-Asian violence in our country over the last year.