In a striking turn of events, renowned atheist and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins recently declared himself a “cultural Christian” during an interview with Rachel S. Johnson of LBC. Dawkins’ declaration was sparked by his reaction to the mayor of London’s decision to celebrate Ramadan with 30,000 lights on Oxford Street rather than Easter.
At Easter morning brunch, one of my daughters brought me a beautiful bouquet of tulips.
The whole of Christ’s passion is obedience. It is obedience out of love – a love for the Father and love for us. Christ put the greatest trust in the Father’s plan for salvation. Abraham and Isaac were the forerunners of this great trust: Abraham in God, God in Abraham, and Isaac in Abraham.
On the edge of my property a lone peach tree grows between the woods and the gravel drive. Years ago, someone probably finished eating a peach and carelessly tossed the pit out of their car window. With the dense undergrowth, the pit overcame insurmountable odds to sprout into a sapling and grow into a small tree. 
Tom Holland’s magnificent book “Dominion” develops in detail what amounts to a very simple proposition – namely, that Christianity is responsible for many of the central values we take for granted and assume to be universal. In point of fact, he says, our insistence on the dignity of the individual, fundamental human rights, the principle of equality and, perhaps above all, that the poor, the marginalized and the victimized ought to be specially cherished, flows from basic Christian convictions. 
Nearly 40 years ago, on a Tuesday, my sister Erin ran into the house with the excitement and enthusiasm that only a 7-year-old girl with a story to tell could muster. Immediately, she began to tell my mother about the wonderful adventure that she and her older brother had been having outside. Now she described in great detail the clouds and the birds and the sunshine and the neighbors who walked by all as we were engaged in the challenging project of getting a kite to fly on a Tuesday afternoon.
There are so many things clamoring for our attention these days, in all different kinds of ways. We are assaulted by advertisements, which are practically unavoidable on every video we watch, on billboards, on the radio and on our social media feeds. 
Mission of Our Lady of Consolation Church, Charlotte
Mission of Our Lady of Consolation Church, Charlotte 341 Dallas-Spencer Mountain Road, Gastonia
https://ourladyofconsolation.org/st-helen-catholic-church-1
Mass: 9:30 a.m. Sunday
The site for St. Helen Church – and, in part, its inspiration – came from Robert Gardin, a former Baptist who in his younger days converted to Catholicism after having a dream in which St. Peter called on him to continue his faith by way of the Catholic Church. Gardin’s conversion is said to have brought hundreds of friends, neighbors and family members – including eight siblings – into the church. The Gardin family still worships at St. Helen, a small red brick church designed by the famed church architect Benedictine Father Michael McInerney. It is one of the diocese’s historically African-American faith communities, and today welcomes people of all backgrounds.
