Brian Harper

Racism is contrary to God's will. So is every cruel and petty reason we devise to separate instead of joining, to split instead of bridging.The late Archbishop Joseph Rummel's witness on race offers lessons that speak to some of our broader social struggles. 

Young Voices: At the 75th anniversary of D-Day, there was a sense that when we eventually lose the remaining soldiers, we will lose with them an uncommon valor and strength of character.

Young Voices: I'm usually not good at Lent. Yet this year I fulfilled my goal: praying the rosary almost daily. But by Holy Week's end, I owed this more to determination not to fall short than to any notion that the rosary was enriching my life.

Young Voices: Whenever there is a poll ranking U.S. presidents, there is one head of state I always look out for, wondering if his service might get a generous reappraisal. I continue to wait in vain. 

Young Voices: Any of us who practice religion have more personal figures who help make the sacred captivating. In my life, my late grandfather was such an individual.

Young Voices: Corruption is insidious because of the ways power seduces its beneficiaries into profiteering from their status. But it's also dangerous in the way it uses tribalism to tempt the rest of us into selectively looking the other way.

Young Voices: Over the past few months, several friends have shared that they are feeling something bordering on political burnout. From a certain perspective, I appreciate the weariness. It would be a mistake, though, to tune out entirely.

Young Voices: Clergy and laity alike can learn from those who have been most marginalized. They know Golgotha in a way no one ever should, and their courage is without parallel.

Young Voices: Like David Souter's weighing of multiple constitutional goods, we are sometimes forced to choose between two fine choices or two less-than-ideal options.

Young Voices: In Catholic Mass, the songs and readings may shift each day, but the general structure has been pretty consistent. This all struck me as pretty boring when I was growing up. Other denominations' services felt new and dynamic, like each week was a new episode of a great TV show. 

Young Voices: The trouble with attacks on political correctness is not that they defend impropriety, though they usually do; it is that they justify a worldview that simply is not accurate.

Young Voices: Like every nation, the Philippines has its problems. Filipinos are not oblivious to these realities. At the same time, their positivity has something to teach Americans.

Young Voices: I had the great fortune to sit in the audience as Vice President Joe Biden affirmed his great fortune to Stephen Colbert on a recent taping of "The Late Show." What was most surprising was that Biden's claims of good luck referred not to his public career but to his private life.

Young Voices: I slipped back into the rhythms that defined my life in Peru. But there were moments when I was deeply, sometimes uncomfortably aware of how much had changed.