The Examined Life by Bryan Cones

The secret death of bees [1]
Unlike today’s humans, bees rock at living in harmony with creation.

Ear to the ground [2]
Will Pope Francis listen to voices calling for change in the church?

Famous last words [3]
Pope Benedict’s final act may be one of his best gifts to the church.

Back to the drawing board [4]
The religious landscape is shifting. Don’t hunker down—get creative.

Brokenness in the body [5]
The church needs to open its doors to the broken bodies of Christ.

God willing? [6]
When tragedy hits, think twice before claiming what God intended.

Advance bishop [7]
Moving a bishop should be more than an ecclesiastical game of chess.

Death becomes us [8]
It’s time to resurrect Catholic wisdom about the art of dying.

The devil in the details [9]
We shouldn’t let sensationalized crime become an occasion of sin.

Guilt by dissociation [10]
The human cost of the war on terror burdens those who fight it.

Women on a mission [11]
When the church gets you down, you can always serve the poor.

My friend the abuser [12]
Am I to judge a mentor and friend only by his greatest sin?

Look who's talking [13]
What’s so odd about talking to God over a cup of coffee?

Tunnel vision [14]
Is the demand for ideological purity harming service to the poor?

Kids these days... [15]
Maybe it’s time to let generations X and Y have their say.

Don't get comfortable [16]
Lent’s 40 days should disturb our consumer complacency.

Stay of Execution [17]
With a common commitment, Catholics could make the death penalty a thing of the past.

A good fit? [18]
Church teaching on gay and lesbian people must reflect their dignity as God's daughters and sons.

You're cut off [19]
New rules in two dioceses make communion from the cup an endangered species.

Put faith in your vote [20]
Election Day shouldn’t be a time to leave our faith at home.

Roadtripped [21]
Life’s unexpected twists and turns need time to reveal the lessons they offer.

Veggie tales [22]
Much like Merton and de Mello, peas, carrots, and beans make great spiritual masters.

The buck stops where? [23]
The biggest question in the sex abuse crisis is why some bishops still have their jobs.

Women and children last [24]
Would we so willingly cut programs for the poor if we knew them by name?

Bad call [25]
The U.S. bishops’ recent action against a popular theologian has some Catholics crying foul.

Blessed are you [26]
How do we honor a pope whose complexities are still fresh in our memory?

Boxed in [27]
Lent is a good time to ask whether the stuff we hold on to is actually holding us back.

Judgment call [28]
A bishop’s authority cannot replace the graced conscience of the baptized.

Change we can believe in [29]
Church teaching is the same always and everywhere—except when it isn’t.

Dig in [30]
It’s OK if you don’t like beets. There’s a dish for every taste on the Catholic table.

Mass disruption [31]
The new translation of the liturgy will speak volumes about the church that prays it.

America the anxious [32]
Only our better angels can guide us to interreligious understanding.

Will the center hold? [33]
The church as we know it won’t last if its broad middle begins to shrink.

Problem children [34]
Mother Earth can’t take much more of her human offspring’s hell-raising.

Pastoral discretion advised [35]
Law must always be tempered by mercy if justice is to be truly served.

Take your time [36]
For everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.

Too true to school [37]
The sex abuse crisis should teach us that it takes more than a seminary to raise a priest.

Don't forget the flowers [38]
Bad news about the church can be a good opportunity to remember why we’re here in the first place.

What's your sign? [39]
Though the cross reigns over Good Friday, Easter's mystery needs a symbol of its own.

Certifiably Catholic [40]
Our place in the church isn't determined by politics or policy.

To eternity and beyond [41]
Forget about terrestrial matters for a moment and think outside the blue planet.

Mind the gap [42]
Which path do we choose when the twain of experience and church teaching don’t meet?

Season's Greetings [43]
If we're going to invite disaffected Catholics to come on home, let's also warm up the welcome they're likely to receive.

Use your inside voice [44]
The high pitch of pro-life advocacy could heed some old-fashioned parental guidance.

Marriage of convenience [45]
Catholics should find a way to welcome couples whose paths to the altar don't go straight down the center aisle.

Priests off the pedestal [46]
A holy-card priest is not the best patron to lead 21st-century ministers into the future.

Non-parishable goods [47]
The value of a faith community can't be crunched on a balance sheet.

Watch your steps [48]
Mass could use the hard dose of reality offered by those recovering from addiction.

Above and beyond the call [49]
U.S. women religious deserve better than the nunsense of a Vatican investigation.

Commencement duress [50]
Catholics shouldn't let single-issure politics deprive us of our hard-won place at the heart of America's democracy.

How green is your faith? [51]
We should honor God the Father by caring for our Mother Earth.

Fast break [52]
Lent is a good time to call time-out on our First world feeding frenzy.

Proceed with caution [53]
Now is not the time to rush World War II's pope to a place among the beatified.

Positively pro-life [54]
Catholics must focus on the battle for hearts and minds to be succussful in the effort to end abortion. 

Morality check [55]
The global fight against HIV and AIDS requires all the means at our disposal.

All in favor? [56]
There’s more democracy in the church than you might think.

A more perfect communion [57]
Christians can manage to be the one church of Christ without agreeing on everything.

Bring ‘em on [58]
Catholic institutions should play host to this year’s electoral contests.

Gag order [59]
Pumping up priesthood at the expense of lay ministry is no way to renew the church.

Mea maxima culpa [60]
Among the many victims of the Iraq war have been our own fellow Catholics.

Make it personal [61]
Millions have headed for the exits without getting the best of what we have to offer.

Lab partners [62]
Instead of shooting rhetorical spitballs in the other's general direction, boosters of both science and religion should start sharing a desk.

Start spreading the Good News [63]
The first (and most ignored) rule of preaching the gospel: "Know your audience."

Here comes everybody else [64]
Our color in the Crayola box of "flesh tones" shouldn't determine our place in the church.

Not all roads lead to Rome [65]
The diverse challenges of a struggling world need local solutions from a flexible church.

More than words [66]
Rather than threaten our Christian faith, exploring the language and spiritual practices of other religious traditions may instead make us better Catholics.

...And what we've failed to do [67]
The abuse crisis will never be over without a full confession and a freely given absolution.

Semper ubi sub ubi [68]
If you don't understand that, you're gonna love the new, old Latin Mass.