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Sunday mornings were always the same in China: people filled silently into a room, locked doors behind them, and some were patrolling the hallway. Occasionally, there would be a police raid, and people would be taken away. I watched people fight for a belief that could ruin their reputation, their family, and their future. Why …
Each year, millions of pilgrims flock to the world’s largest public gathering in Karbala, Iraq – the Arbaeen walk. Traveling entirely by foot, the 80 kilometer trek takes almost three days and commemorates 40 days (Arbaeen) after the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (A.S.), a 7th century social justice leader who sacrificed his life in the …
I suppose I’ll write the story of why I am becoming a Catholic. I grew up in a Hindu household and can recall my earliest notions of God. His presence was never a question for me, I recall fearing his judgment greatly. I accepted the existence of God with all the innocence of a child. …
Summer has officially ended, and the fall semester is underway. As a new academic year begins, I cannot help but reflect on the past year. The year was full of academic wins, personal successes, and lots of great memories with friends and family. Despite these wins, however, it is hard to ignore the unsettled, restless, …
Before I could read, I enjoyed going to my family’s church every Sunday and staring at the stained glass on the tall, otherwise cream-colored stucco walls. I especially loved the 10:30 service, when the sun would shine through the heart of St. Sebastian just right to cast beautiful rainbow patches on the walls and ornately …
When I learned that I would have an opportunity to attend an overnight, contemplative retreat as part of this fellowship, I knew immediately that I would jump at that chance. Even though it seemed a little inadvisable to take a break from studying and miss one day of classes right before midterms, I felt okay …
It is a commonly held notion that science is the antithesis of religion. The two are regarded as so inherently contradictory that being religious and simultaneously thinking scientifically is believed to be impossible. Where did this belief come from, and how has it persisted through many generations? Was it the Enlightenment – the great “Age …
My identification with my faith has always been tied up with my two grandmothers. Both of them were, and are, devout Catholics. My maternal grandmother died when I was a baby but when my mom tells me about her she always mentions how important her Catholic faith was to Grandma Theresa. Growing up, my mom …
“The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.” Werner Heisenberg, a 1932 Nobel laureate and father of quantum mechanics, was by all accounts one of the most brilliant minds of the twentieth century. Raised a Lutheran, …
Continuing from where I left off in Part 1 of this post: Growing up, I don’t think I was subject to the same forces as those born and raised in the U.S. My upbringing instilled in me a very third-person point-of-view character compared to what around me looked like people living their lives as first …