In 40 years of working with the addicted, I have learned that these negative  behaviors block the positive power of grace.

The best thing you can do in life is be a consistent, positive example to your family. Teach them to be punctual. Teach them to be a good influence on their community. And, most essential, teach them how to provide care and love to other people, especially those in your family.

No generation is perfect, each facing unique challenges, each having distinct personality and peculiarities that others mock and question. But, millennials seem to carry the ire of everyone.

Erasmus called Thomas “the only genius in England.” Samuel Johnson said, “he was the person of greatest virtue these islands ever produced.”

I hope Governor Cuomo does build a St. Cabrini statue, expressing the strength and vision of a woman who should not be dismissed easily.

This is the season when the Catholic world celebrates the feast of All Saints’ Day, followed by All Souls’ Day. The night before All Saints’ Day, the cultural world celebrates Halloween, literally the eve of All Hallows.

We communicate with the dead when we pray to the saints, canonized or not. So it is not a far stretch to believe that souls are close by and in touch.

I grew to know him as a friend, a fervent advocate for the poor, and as a quintessential leader and civil rights icon who fought for justice and equality for all, especially those he served.

Memo to handwringing adults: Ghouls and goblins and various ghostly apparitions don’t exist, but lust, greed, pride, envy and anger most certainly do. And they are far more frightening.

I’ve been thinking lately about prayers for the sick.