by Father Frank Mann Third and final in a series IN AN ARTICLE titled “What Humans Owe to Animals,” The Economist magazine states: “It is all very well to say that individuals must wrestle with their consciences – but only if their consciences are awake and informed. The fact is, industrial society, alas, hides animals’ […]
Guest Columnists
The Call to Mercy
by Father Frank Mann Second in a series Most certainly, a plethora of folk are choosing to eat less (or no) meat for a variety of reasons. From a health perspective, studies are validating that meat abstinence is often healthier and has likewise been associated with lower levels of obesity, cardiovascular disease, certain cancers and […]
Catholic Voices In Public Life
by Kathleen M. Gallagher THEY CAME TO Brooklyn from all over the state. They arrived on planes, trains and automobiles. They sacrificed a Saturday with family and friends, in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the busiest time of the year. They met at DeSales Media Group, home of NET-TV, to participate in […]
Pray for Those Who Walk with Seminarians
by Father Eugene Hemrick When we respond, “Lord hear our prayer” to the offertory petition at Mass, “Let us pray for priestly vocations,” what should we include in this petition? Having worked in seminary formation, I can say that the formation of seminarians is awesome work in need of much prayer. During a recent faculty […]
A Mystical UFO?
by Father Robert Czok This past summer provided the opportunity for an excursion to Cape Cod with priest companions, Fathers John Amman and Bob Blauvelt, and a couple of brief solo sojourns into the highlands of New England, specifically, the Berkshires in Massachusetts and Vermont. The first segment of my travels with friends to and […]
Should We Ever Refuse Dialysis?
by Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk Patients and families sometimes struggle with the question of whether dialysis is “worth it.” A young woman wrote recently on a website addressing dialysis patients’ concerns, “My father has been on dialysis for three years, and he’s 62 years old. A few days ago he said he wanted to stop going […]
Friendships Are Eternal
by Bill and Monica Dodds We’ve reconnected with a number of longtime friends over the past few months, and it has been interesting to see how relationships can pick right up where they left off — no awkwardness, no uncertainty, just a true joy. A few people, during a particular time of our lives, were […]
Escaping from Prayer
by Effie Calderola It’s easy to escape from prayer. Why would I want to do that? Maybe it’s because true prayer goes to the very center of things, the center where God speaks my truth, and sometimes that’s a scary place to go. It also requires time and discipline, and sometimes I’m lazy. There are […]
Preparing for Episcopacy Has Been Time of Prayer
by Bishop Paul R. Sanchez There is an intriguing passage in the Book of Daniel where the angel of the Lord seizes the prophet Habakkuk “by the crown of his head and carries him by the hair” (Daniel 14:36) and transports the prophet from Judea to Babylon with the speed of the wind. Habakkuk is […]
Gospel-Like Simplicity Serves Bishop Ray Well
by Msgr. Kevin Noone To know Bishop Raymond Chappetto is to know a priest whose priestly identity is in the sinews of his muscles and in the marrow of his bones. His vocation was nurtured within a loving immediate family and a caring extended family of aunts, uncles and cousins. His maternal aunt, Sister Mary […]