by Father William Byron, S.J., Call it curious, ironic or just plain strange. New York Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, published a Jan. 25 op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal to express his frustration over President Barack Obama’s ruling that most health insurance plans will have to […]
by Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk. ONCE I MET A woman who had worked for years in fashion and modeling. Unsurprisingly, she was strikingly attractive. She was accompanied by her teenage daughter who, by contrast, was rather unremarkable to look at, maybe even a plain Jane. After spending time with them, I began to sense that the […]
DURING A 2011 roundtable discussion on Fox News, guest commentator Jay Thomas argued that young people should not be too concerned when it comes to pre-marital sex, because nobody would choose to “buy a car without driving it first. You don’t get married, and you don’t learn about sex, by not having it.” Any reasonable […]
by Father William Byron Recently, a lawyer friend asked me whether forgiveness can, in any way, be a form of justice. I think it can, but I’m not sure how to explain it. The healing power of forgiveness cannot be overemphasized. Whether given or received, and regardless of whether it comes from God or another […]
by Father Peter J. Daly Christopher Hitchens, the famous militant atheist, died in December from esophageal cancer. He was 62. I am sorry for his painful death at a young age, but I cannot say that I am grieved. Hitchens was the only person ever to attack me by name in the pages of a […]
by Antoinette Bosco WHEN I SAW the title “Christmas Shock: The Human Experience of God,” I grabbed the book. And when I saw the author’s name, Jean Maalouf, I knew that I had a good learning experience in store. I have often met with Maalouf, a very spiritual writer who has two doctorates from the […]
by Father Peter J. Daly “WE NEED a little Christmas, right this very minute.” Auntie Mame sings those words in the musical “Mame.” The song reminds us that Christmas brings joy. We all could use some joy. There are always reasons for joy at Christmas. It might be a good idea to remind ourselves of […]
by Therese J. Borchard DURING THE AUTUMN of 2001, I was holding my four-month-old son when I received an unexpected call from Catholic News Service. A pleasant editor introduced herself as Carole Greene and said that she had been given a copy of my book, “Winging It: Meditations of a Young Adult.” “Would you consider […]
by Father Peter J. Daly A FORTNIGHT AGO, when I had open-heart surgery, I looked down into the abyss of death. By the grace of God and the help of science, I drew back from the edge. But it has changed the way I see things. During the surgery, my aortic valve was replaced with […]
by Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk Last month, an advisory committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta recommended that nine- to 12-year-old boys be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV), a virus transmitted through sexual contact. The goal of the recommendations was to prevent cancers caused by HPV, such as certain cancers […]
