Violence continues to infiltrate our culture. We need a new Thoreau, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and Dorothy Day to lead and inspire us.

More Paulist Missionaries. My religious community has served this city since 1954, since the days of the civil rights movement, focusing especially on evangelization, work with the poor, and spiritual renewal. May our legacy continue.

I have always followed Acts 2:42-47 in determining how a community should engage in just stewardship: “Now all who believed were together and had all things in common.  And sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.” Any budget should reflect both subsidiarity and solidarity, helping to generate income while…[Read more]

Which Memphis-area house of worship do you find most beautiful, spiritual, sacred? And why? For me, the most beautiful exterior for a house of worship is that of St. Peter’s Church on downtown Adam’s Street, whose majestic spires lift up to heaven an area dominated by the politics of this world. But the most beautiful interior [...]

What should we – individually and collectively – be doing differently about hunger issues in our community? It would seem that the roots of hunger in America are varied and complex, including such factors as the crisis in the economy, the rise of unemployment, public and private neglect if not abandonment of the inner city, the [...]

If you were addressing the nation on Wednesday, Nov. 7, the DAY AFTER the election, what would you say? What advice would you offer to your fellow Americans about the next four years? Let us thank God for our two party system, for the ability of opposing political candidates to campaign in an atmosphere of non-violence [...]

How do you define dying well? Dying well means a holistic preparation for Eternal Life. Would that everyone would be able, like Saint Francis of Assisi, to die singing. Actually my mother’s last words were sung: “Yes, Jesus Loves Me, the Bible tells me so!” My brother, sister, and I were able to attend to her [...]

What are your views on the fact that Protestants are no longer the majority religion in the U.S.? As one friend of mine somewhat facetiously put it: “The trouble with Protestants is that they stopped protesting!” Indeed there seems to be a need among Protestants and mainline churches for new Luthers, Calvins, Wesleys, and similar prophetic [...]

What is your favorite verse of holy scripture and why? “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach Good News to the poor” (Luke 4:18 and Isaiah 61:1) I love this passage, which I used as the Gospel text for my ordination invitation (May 5, 1973) and for my [...]

Memphis is the second most generous city in the country, according to a new survey by The Chronicle of Philanthropy. According to the publication: “Religion plays a major role in how much money Americans give to charity. The parts of the country that tend to be more religious are also more generous.” Why is this true? [...]

What should Memphis City Council do? Are sexual orientation and gender identity an employment issue, a civil rights issue or a faith issue?

As a Catholic American, I would ask that sexual orientation and gender identity be included in the nondiscrimination ordinance. I believe it is an employment, civil rights, and faith issue.

What are your views of the food-stamp program and the proposed cuts to it?

So many people in my 38126 Memphis neighborhood, including families of single parents, rely on food-stamps to get by. It is a basic safety net from a caring community. From that base we can help each other move forward.

What is your reaction to the Freedom from Religion Foundation suing the Memphis City Council? Not knowing the details of the impending lawsuit, nor the content of the council prayer, and having spent my entire life in ecumenical and interreligious circles, allow me to say that it IS possible to pray with such ecumenical and interreligious [...]

At St. Andrew AME, the Robinsons have a ministry called “The Right Start” — a new program that trains “Milk Missionaries” to guide new and expectant mothers, to help them reach their breast-feeding goals. Such public health matters are often thought of as government responsibilities. Does the faith community also have a responsibility when it…[Read more]