Religion

When I attend a 50th anniversary celebration of friends, parishioners and family, I’m struck by love in many dimensions. Undoubtedly the enduring love and good fortune of the couple is celebrated, but also felt and visible are all the effects of that love among...

The MLK Jr. Interfaith Service at St. Mary’s in Gilroy earlier this month was a beautiful example of why different faith traditions bother to take the time to come together when we are so different. The truth is that our differences can make our...

Recently, Chabad of South County Women’s Circle hosted a pre-Thanksgiving event titled, “Give Thanks by Giving Back.” We gathered to make fleece blankets and care packages to donate to Rebekah Children’s Services. I was heartened and touched by the tremendous response from our community...

Prayer takes on different forms in different religious expressions. Prayers are chanted, spoken or sung. Prayers are spoken aloud or uttered more silently.  One of the notable expressions of prayer in Christianity is the prayer Jesus taught his disciples when they asked, “Lord, teach us to...

From the earliest colonial days of America, there emerged an ethic of honest labor and craftsmanship. From farmers to silversmiths and makers of furniture, household implements and tools, there was a value on both the humanity and honor of work.  Yet, by the end of...

Words are powerful. They have the ability to shape our lives and the lives of the people around us. A simple phrase can encourage us to be brave, remind us of our worth or even change the direction of our future.  Think about the times...

Longtime St. Catherine Parish member Anna Quinones and Maria Dominguez, the church’s office manager, led the preparation, organization and distribution of Thanksgiving meal baskets for families in need on Nov. 18. Photo: Michael Moore While Thanksgiving is often celebrated as an opportunity to enjoy abundance...

There are lots of signs of Halloween around our communities. Ghosts, skeletons, Jack-O­ Lanterns, gravestones and the like. Americans spend more money on Halloween decorating than any other holiday except for Christmas. In the growing darkness of our daylight hours diminishing, we seem to...

What has your summer been like? Hot? So hot you had to stay inside? Are you one of the people working outside who aren’t allowed to take a break? Are you one of the people who goes to the hospital because of burns from...

I learned long ago that I prefer to work, play and live by planning things out, studying ideas in my mind, and then embarking on a journey to achieve whatever it is that I set out to accomplish. Even at a young age, when friends...