by Fr. Jim Chern
Last week, two newspapers from completely opposite coasts - literally and figuratively - both published opinion pieces on what is called “Cancel Culture.” “Cancel culture” is when businesses or individuals find themselves experiencing boycotts for…
There’s been an overwhelming amount of really awful news over the last few weeks. Back at the start of the semester, we had a tragic death of a student right on our campus of Montclair…
Of all the things that we hear in this Gospel of Joseph’s Annunciation - one thing that always stands out to me is one very little word. Yet. That’s right - a three-letter word -Yet…
A 19-year-old who was homeless, living in Hawaii describes the night his entire life changed. He was finished working for the night at one of the Bubba Gump-chain restaurants on the island and was waiting…
When is a fight worth having? Nations debate that on the global stage. Children on playgrounds do, too. In a day and age where we see deeply entrenched political divisions and a social-media-age that seems like the…
How quickly, how succinctly a person can convey a message has been a goal long before Twitter ever existed with its 280 character-texts on their social media platform. In fact, it was William Shakespeare, of…
Twice in the last decade, our Newman Catholic Center at Montclair State University has been fortunate to have a Vatican-trained exorcist, Father Vincent Lampert with us to share his experiences in a public lecture. It…
I’ve found myself feeling oddly emotional coming to this day, Ash Wednesday. I’m not going to have an emotional breakdown (well I hope) and I get how weird this might sound. Because of all the…
Just reading that first reading from Leviticus, here in the year 2021 it has a different feel than ever before. We heard spelled out for us a mandate from scripture of how people were quarantined…
I think of the 4,000 emails that currently sit in my inbox, less than a handful have been intentionally saved for over 12 years, like this one: Hey Fr. Jim - So on Friday I…