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Columns

A great priest and educational leader

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When Holy Cross Father Theodore M. Hesburgh turned 91, Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, president emeritus of George Washington University, greeted him by saying, “Father Ted, I hope you’re going to live forever!” Father Hesburgh, the president emeritus of Notre Dame replied, “Steve, I already have!” Well, not quite; Father Hesburgh died Feb. 26 at age 97. […]
3/3/15
Reading Time 3 min

The church must find a better way

By Russell Shaw
The likelihood that the Supreme Court will announce its discovery of a constitutional right to same-sex marriage next June raises an obvious question for the Catholic Church: What do we do now? Two steps come to mind. First, press for strong legal protections for individuals and institutions conscientiously unable to cooperate with a legal regime […]
2/24/15
Reading Time 3 min

Footnotes

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Footnotes usually are not exciting and easily are overlooked by the casual reader. But footnotes are essential to demonstrate the reliability of research, the integrity of a term paper, the honesty of reporting. Even the four Gospels are supported by footnotes, after a fashion. And discovering relevant, important and compelling footnotes can be moving and […]
2/24/15
Reading Time 4 min

St. Gregory of Narek named doctor of the church

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VATICAN CITY – A 10th-century Armenian monk has been named among the doctors of the church. Pope Francis approved the designation for St. Gregory of Narek during a meeting Feb. 21 with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes. The church confers this designation on saints whose writings are considered to offer […]
2/24/15
Reading Time 1 min

Leaving out John

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Q: I must confess first to a bias, because St. John the Evangelist is my baptismal patron saint, but I have always wondered why – in the A, B and C cycles of Scriptural readings for Sunday Mass – the rotation includes only the Gospels written by Matthew, Mark and Luke. – A reader in […]
2/24/15
Reading Time 2 min

Joy nonetheless

By Nick Macedonia
A wise friend of mine posed one of the most haunting questions I have ever heard: “If you only had one hour to spend with your child, would you take it?” My answer was “Yes,” and it turned out to be one of the most profound and joyful decisions of my life. My precious daughter, […]
2/24/15
Reading Time 3 min

A patron saint for queens

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Queens are rare today, but for many centuries just about every nation in the world had a queen. Although the world has evolved politically, devotion to St. Hedwig has been strong and constant among Poles and Lithuanians, who remember her not only as a skillful ruler, but also as a devout woman who was especially generous to the needy.

2/24/15
Reading Time 3 min

Geography of hope

By Soren Johnson
“Dad,” my 9-year-old son yelled over his brothers and sisters from the back seat on a recent drive home from town, “this is where we heard on the radio that Dallas lost to the Packers.” “Right here?” I asked the diehard Cowboys fan incredulously. We were passing a corn field outside of town. “Yeah, I […]
2/24/15
Reading Time 3 min

Is weight-loss surgery ethical?

By Fr. Tad Pacholczyk
Bariatric surgery, which often involves banding of the stomach, is a widely used procedure for treating severe obesity. Another approach that relies on an implantable “stomach pacemaker” also appears poised to assist those struggling with significant weight gain. Many people have already benefited from these kinds of surgical interventions, enabling them to shed a great […]
2/19/15
Reading Time 3 min

Stop and think(1)

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It is one of the most basic commands in the Gospel: Repent. Metanoeite in Greek. It is the first command of Christ (cf. Mk 1:15) and likewise of His vicar (cf. Acts 2:38). So fundamental is this command to Christianity that the word metanoia has become somewhat familiar. And yet for all its importance and […]
2/19/15
Reading Time 3 min

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