Bby Father John Catoir Throughout his career as a community organizer, President Barack Obama is said to have used Saul Alinski’s book, “Rules for Radicals.” Some say the book proclaimed the principle of divide-and-conquer. This was one of Alinski’s strategies in the struggle to gain political power. By turning the poor against the rich, the […]
by Natasha Bisbal Do you recall the Snickers chocolate bar commercials about the unfortunate side effects of hunger? These commercials depict a routine day-to-day event, i.e. teens riding around in a car listening to music or construction workers drilling at an outdoor work site in the heat. Suddenly, the normal event is interrupted by an […]
by Father Maciej Pawlowski, S.M. I remember that day when I came to the Diocese of Brooklyn as a transitional deacon. Ordained only few months after the death of beloved Pope John Paul II, I was deeply grateful to God that my priestly vocation took root with the blessing of John Paul the Great. The […]
by Msgr. Paul Jervis The ordination of priests and bishops along with the celebration of their anniversaries at this time in the Brooklyn Diocese is an experience of profound joy. The joy was no less intense for Bernard John Quinn, a young man of 24 years, who was ordained a priest with 14 of his […]
by Congressman Bob Turner On Memorial Day, the very day that we pause to honor the heroes who gave their lives in the name of freedom, The New York Times issued a scathing indictment of the Catholic Church for protecting its right to religious freedom through the federal courts. The lawsuits argue that it is […]
by Father William J. Byron, S.J. Over the past year or so, I’ve been studying the decline in Sunday Mass attendance in the Catholic community. An old friend who knew what I was up to recently sent me a letter indicating that he had read an article I wrote based on “exit interviews” with nonchurchgoing […]
by Don Zirkel It may have been our first serious family meeting led by the children and not their (septuagenarian) parents. The memorial gathering in our upstate vacation home was so similar, and so different. It resembled many of the spiritual retreats of our lifetimes – challenges and prayer, silence and sharing, mood music and […]
by Stefanie Gutierrez My husband Manny and I have no family in New York. We moved here from Florida as recent college graduates, with Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” rolling around in our heads. I look back on our first months here as both providential and full of what I endearingly call “Godsequences.” The […]
by Father Eugene Hemrick At 6 a.m., I rise and turn on my music station that is interrupted every 30 minutes by the news. After Mass, I read the newspaper that awaits me on the kitchen table. The first thing to appear on my computer at work is MSN news. Before dinner, I sit and […]
by Paul Morisi A concern of many Catholics today (not just of pastors and bishops) is “where are the young Catholics?” It can be a scary sight, to enter a church and to see that demographic absent. Simply putting a bulletin insert inviting “20 somethings” to a prayer group might not be enough (especially if […]
