by Therese J.Borchard Approximately 43.6 million people in the United States are what we term “poor,” defined as lacking a socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. For 2011, the national poverty level was set at $22,350 for a family of four. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that more people fall below the poverty […]
by Brian Caulfield Something sensational happened in Madrid. The week after aimless youths were blamed for riots in London and as Time magazine headlined “The Decline and Fall of Europe,” hundreds of thousands of young people converged on Spain’s capital to celebrate their Catholic faith. The youthful enthusiasm, unflagging energy, unwavering commitment, and many acts […]
by Father Frank Mann Recently, a segment from a news story jolted my attention: Dallas billionaire Charles Wyly, whose fortune helped reshape the Dallas Arts District was killed in a car crash in Colorado. Wyly, 77, had stopped at the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport to buy a newspaper and was trying to turn his Porsche left […]
by Therese J. Borchard “A DIVORCE is like an amputation,” celebrated author and literary critic Margaret Atwood once said. “You survive it, but there’s less of you.” Divorce usually involves the married couple, more than two lawyers and 15 legal pads. It often fractures a family, causing what can seem like an irreconcilable rift between […]
by Father Frank Mann RECENTLY, I headed to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art to check out the extraordinary exhibition titled, “Savage Beauty.” It turned out that I was one of the countless droves of enthusiastic folk found sweating their way through a two-hour line to enter the much anticipated event. The enthralling exhibit, the […]
by Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk A CATHOLIC physician once related to me a powerful story about one of his patients, who had just received a diagnosis of advanced, metastatic cancer and had a relatively short time left to live. The patient mentioned to the doctor that he was Catholic but had drifted away from the Church […]
by Father William J. Byron, S.J. The National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management held its seventh annual meeting in June. It aimed to bring business executives and church leaders together to discuss the application of “best practices” from business to the management needs of the Catholic Church. The previous six meetings were held at the […]
by Stephen Kent ONCE, WHILE working as the editor of a daily newspaper, I was involved in the annual budget get-together with the publisher and all department heads. It had come to that point in the proceedings when the advertising manager said that he could no longer squeeze another dollar from an already reluctant market. […]
by Father John Catoir I spoke to a group of first communicants recently, and at the end of Mass, I asked the entire congregation to give them a hand of applause. Everyone stood up and applauded. I told children that they owed a debt of great gratitude to their parents, who not only feed, shelter […]
by Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk People often surmise that same-sex attraction is inborn, and that homosexuals are “naturally gay” or “born that way.” They suppose that if God made them that way then it must not be a sin to act on their sexual desires. The possibility of a “gay gene” is sometimes offered as a […]
