by Tom Hoopes  The day I learned the power of the cross, I was unemployed and desperate. More than desperate, I was panicked and near despair. I had been looking for work in Washington, D.C., for weeks, and every promising lead had…

by Tom Hoopes YIN & YANG Their titles and approaches might seem vastly different, but two recent books are actually complementary — a yin and yang of being Catholic in the 21st century. And both books have faithful Catholics buzzing!…

There are two ways to look at what is happening in the United States and across the world with the coronavirus pandemic. You can see it as a massive panic bordering on overreaction as people cut each other off out of fear. Or you can see it…

Holy Week and the Notre Dame Cathedral fire teach the same lesson: Tragedy exists to teach us faith and heroism. It’s right there in Sacred Scripture, in the letter of St. Jude. First, though: A lot of people have shared a lot of lessons…

The best movie for Lent might be an hour at the Adoration chapel and no movie at all. But my family does like to use media to drive home lessons with our boys and our girls. During Lent we try to present movies about the story of salvation…

This year it will be a quarter of a century since my wife and I brought our first child to Mass for the first time. Every Sunday Mass since, with the exception of a business trip, retreat or getaway here and there, we have knelt, stood, and…

Feelings are raw with regard to the sex abuse crisis, and I am in no mood to fast for it. I will anyway. This week, as the U.S. bishops gather for their annual fall meeting, many Catholics are following Pope Francis’s suggestion for fasting…

It’s perfect that St. Joseph’s Day comes just seven days before Passion Sunday this year. This Sunday we will hear how Jesus died in obedience to his Father, in heaven. This Monday we learn that it wasn’t just his heavenly Father he was…

In the past, on autumn afternoons after Sunday Mass, you could always go over to my in-laws’ house, sit down, and watch the NFL with them. Not anymore. “We were deeply offended by the position that a number of NFL players took at the…

People imitate what they see. That is my guiding principle when choosing movies for children and teens (and adults, too, truth be told). So I don’t show them what I don’t want them to imitate, and I try to go out of my way to find stories…