As I write this, thousands of young people are celebrating their graduation from Notre Dame. They've worked hard to get here.

While I visited my bubbe (that's Yiddish for grandmother) at a Catholic hospital where she was recovering from laproscopic surgery, the local news was airing on the TV in her room. It announced that Barack Obama promised to up the ante on George Bush's failed faith-based services initiative if he is elected president, pouring millions more dollars into religious organizations.

Today is the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Clearly, I was not around at that time, but every time I read or think about this event, I sob. I weep because I believe, in my heart of hearts, that the world was robbed of someone who truly could make it a better place.