Catholic social teaching is a rich treasure of wisdom for navigating past the treacherous partisan shoals that make constructive dialog so difficult these days. Yes, dialog – a blast from the past. This word was very popular in the aftermath of Vatican II and signified a sense of hope that people could find common ground […]
Editorials
Love Without Limits
Back in the 1960s – the time in which the so-called “sexual revolution” was boldly proclaimed – a certain culture of newfound liberation was beginning to emerge, celebrating itself as a movement toward “free love.” Taking great liberties with the writings of some of the saints – such as Augustine (“Love and do as you […]
The Winning Coach
A year has yet to pass since Jorge Mario Bergoglio, newly elected Bishop of Rome (as he often refers to himself as) – and, therefore, pope – appeared on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, arms limply at his side, looking all of a startled schoolboy about to answer for himself before the principal. […]
Uniting for Life
As if marking the 41st anniversary of the disastrous Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision wasn’t enough, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has decided to rub salt into the wounds of pro-life advocates by telling them they should leave New York State. The anniversary of the fateful day that has brought so much grief and destruction to […]
The Division of Poverty
The incidence of National Migration Week, Jan. 5-11, during Poverty Awareness Month is not accidental. Both call our attention to the kind of division that comes from the hardening of the difference and diversity among equals – brothers and sisters who are children of the one God. The Bible depicts it as destroyer of families […]
A New Holy Day
“We run the risk of concealing Christmas behind bourgeois customs and sentimentality, behind all those traditions that make this holiday dear and precious to us,” wrote Father Alfred Delp, S.J., from his cell in a Nazi concentration camp. “Yet perhaps the deep meaning is still hiding behind all those things. What this celebration is about […]
Clearing a Path
In The Apostle’s Creed, we profess that at some point between His death and resurrection, Christ “descended into hell.” Though the origins of this doctrine are obscure and scriptural references sparse, the logic is strong that salvation – to be truly universal – must reach into the very heart of darkness, the jaws of evil […]
Focus on His Peace
Advent begins – a new year for our journey of faith through our time in salvation history. As good a time as any for each one of us, layperson, religious, priest – in whichever current position or stage of life and well-being – to take a personal spiritual inventory. The question at the end of […]
A Family of Faith
We have just completed a worldwide observance of the Year of Faith and are about to enter the Advent season of a new liturgical cycle. Now seems an opportune time to count our blessings, especially during a week in which we gather with family for Thanksgiving. In keeping with the theme of faith, it makes […]
Faith’s Rallying Cry
How soon the End Times may be coming not even Jesus would disclose. No one knows the day or the hour. Yet the possibility of a sudden disruption of our comfort zone and even chaotic upheaval is always upon us, whether wrought by global forces, natural or anthropogenic, or through the simple course of each […]