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Columns

Question Corner: God and birth defects

By Fr. Kenneth Doyle
Privileges of a deacon Q. Often, I have been at a Mass where the deacon reads the Gospel, which is fine. But then, sometimes, the deacon goes on to give the homily while the priest watches. This disappoints me and makes me feel that the deacon is overstepping his bounds. Why should a deacon, rather […]
8/1/22
Reading Time 4 min

Post-Roe America

By Mary Beth Bonacci
I saw it coming a long time ago. Back when I was a young, idealistic pro-lifer, I wondered what I could do for the movement. I had friends who were “sidewalk counselors,” standing outside abortion clinics offering help to the women walking in. That terrified me. I had other friends who were petitioning and lobbying […]
7/31/22
Reading Time 4 min

How to approach mornings

By Elizabeth Foss
I heartily believe that there are morning people and not-morning people. Or maybe it is “morning not-people,” because they just don’t feel human when they get out of bed. I think that, to some degree, we come wired to be one or the other. Many people who are not naturally inclined to spring out of […]
7/30/22
Reading Time 3 min

Pope Pius and the Holocaust

By Russell Shaw
Two substantial new historical studies of Pope Pius XII’s response to the Jewish Holocaust reach sharply opposed conclusions. Not surprisingly, it’s the negative criticism of Pius rather than the documented defense that’s getting attention, including puff-piece interviews by The New York Times and the Associated Press. Brown University historian David Kertzer in “The Pope at […]
7/30/22
Reading Time 3 min

You become what you love

By Fr. Richard Miserendino
It’s a simple truth that we become like what we love. Whether it be the kid who imitates her favorite aunt, the love-struck young man memorizing a girl’s favorite song, or even someone trying to earn the respect of a mentor, we readily go out of our way to become like that which captures our […]
7/29/22
Reading Time 3 min

You only need to ask

By Fr. Steven Oetjen
What comes to mind when we think about the word prayer? We might think of great spiritual consolation, enlightenment, peace and calm. We might even think of the sublime gifts God has given to many saints, such as visions and locutions and ecstasies. But what is prayer most basically? The Dominican spiritual writer Father Simon […]
7/22/22
Reading Time 3 min

Taking care of Mom and Dad

By Maureen Pratt
In May and June, we celebrated all mothers and fathers, and many of us are in the blessed but challenging position of helping our parents navigate their older years, when human fragility can bring on sometimes all-encompassing vulnerability. This quasi role reversal is not exactly like becoming parents to our parents, although sometimes it might […]
7/19/22
Reading Time 3 min

Catching God at the ballfield

By Laura Kelly Fanucci
As a mother of five boys, I have spent countless nights at baseball fields, but never have I glimpsed God in the dugout until tonight. Can I confess that I was bored by my own son’s game — bored only because his team was winning and he’d finished pitching, so my attention wandered for a […]
7/18/22
Reading Time 3 min

Violent culture war

By Russell Shaw
America’s culture war has turned violent. The violence has always been there of course, just below the surface, but lately it has erupted into full, frightening view. I’m not speaking just now of mass killings like the massacres in Uvalde and Buffalo. Those atrocities are not culture war blips but monstrous acts of premeditated evil […]
7/18/22
Reading Time 3 min

The duty of delight

By Christina Capecchi
Here we are, in the thick of summer, this deep and gentle place.  The world is still broken, but we are given a season of delight. Sweet corn and watermelon, birdsong and bare feet, and the nostalgic sensation of endless summer stretching out before us like a million tufts of cloud roaming the big blue […]
7/18/22
Reading Time 3 min

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