REFLECTIONS ON LIFE, WORK, AND FAITH IN THE 21ST-CENTURY AMERICA
Hopeful stories from a Catholic parent, business professional, and first-generation Asian-American
“Wow, what’s going on?” asked Bevo, my elderly cockapoo, as he looked at the closed door of my home office. “This is my office, and it is already 8:30! Have I been laid off, Dad???” Every morning, after he wakes up and does his backyard routine, Bevo marches straight to my home office. For over …
Continue reading "Facing the Unexpected with the Holy Family"
In our first trip to Italy earlier this year, my wife and I visited Assisi, a graceful hilltop town in Umbria, and we absolutely loved it. As the birthplace of St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan movement, the town has a strong spiritual character. Yet, it is also a place of magnificent views, relaxing walking and hiking, and good food. All in a peaceful atmosphere.
My wife and I went to Rome for the first time this year, and we found it too crowded and noisy. As the Church celebrates the great Saints Peter and Paul today, I can’t help but reflect on their lives, accomplishments, and sacrifices in the same crowded city two millennia ago. In our first vacation …
The month of May (in the US) is a month of whirlwind, wrote author and speaker Laura Kelly Fanucci. It is a month of “sacraments and celebrations, graduations and confirmations, gardens to plant and yards to tend and summer to plan” [1]. Her words certainly resonated with me as I was fortunate enough to personally …
Continue reading "May: A Whirlwind of Celebrations and Possibilities"
For more than two billion Christian people in the world today, the Nicene Creed neatly summarizes their faith in ten sentences. It includes a “definition” of who Jesus Christ, the central figure in Christianity, is. Yet, unbeknownst to many, the Christian faith may have been very different today if not for one man’s leadership, courage, …
Continue reading "Contra Mundum: The Price of Faith and Leadership"
A very short story of Katharine Drexel who, at only 26 years old, became one of the richest persons in the US. Yet, she was also the second American-born person to become a saint. She gave us hope that maybe we, too, can pass through the eye of the divine needle.
In San Francisco’s Mission District, about 2 miles east of the popular Golden Gate Park, stands an old church that started the beautiful city: Mission San Francisco De Asís. The story of its founding offers a powerful reminder that everything happens in God’s time.
Unlike the US, many countries celebrate Labor Day (or the Workers' Day) on May 1. The Catholic Church, too, designated May 1 as the feast day of St. Joseph the Worker. In St. Joseph, the Church sees someone whose work was centered on serving the Lord, the family, and the community. He is a model …
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE, WORK, AND FAITH IN THE 21ST-CENTURY AMERICA 