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Columns

How to combat the holiday blues at Christmas

By Michael Horne

While Christmas can be a time of celebration and joy for some, for others the holidays can be challenging. This year is no exception. In fact, this year could be even more difficult. The hardships we face range from feeling lonely, or isolated from loved ones due to the pandemic, to experiencing Seasonal Affective Disorder –- a form of depression that is triggered by shorter days, longer nights and colder weather. What are some ways we can manage these holiday blues?

12/21/20
Reading Time 3 min

St. Joseph, protector of the persecuted

By James M. Starke

On March 19 nearly eight years ago, the church celebrated Pope Francis’ papal inauguration. It was the solemnity of St. Joseph, and in a homily reflecting on Joseph as “protector,” the pope foreshadowed many of the works and teachings that now mark his ministry. At the heart of it, Pope Francis highlighted what it means to follow Joseph. The pope encouraged, “In him, dear friends, we learn how to respond to God’s call, readily and willingly, but we also see the core of the Christian vocation, which is Christ! Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so that we can protect creation!”

12/21/20
Reading Time 3 min

‘Silent Night’ captures the meaning of Christmas in song

By Fr. Richard A. Miserendino

It’s no surprise that there are hundreds of good Christmas songs that reflect the glory of Christ’s birth in sonorous splendor. But of all the Christmas hymns and chants and songs, which one is my favorite?

12/21/20
Reading Time 3 min

Must Catholics refuse a COVID-19 vaccine made with a cell line from an abortion?

By Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

In the wake of announcements from multiple pharmaceutical companies about safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines, many are expressing ethical doubts about whether it is OK to take these vaccines. Do Catholics have a moral duty to decline an inoculation if it was unethically produced using a cell line that came from an abortion? 

12/21/20
Reading Time 4 min

Christmas and the culture war

By Russell Shaw

Just because it’s the Christmas season is no reason to pause the culture war. And here to celebrate peace and good will in its own peculiar fashion is the Secular Democrats of America PAC, with its program for pushing religion out of public life.

12/18/20
Reading Time 3 min

Christmas looks different this year

By Mary Beth Bonacci

I really wanted to start this column any way except “Well, it’s been an unusual year.”  Seeing as how virtually every article you read this week will most likely begin the same way.

12/18/20
Reading Time 4 min

A deeply peaceful story

By Elizabeth Foss

“Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us” (Mt 1:23).

12/18/20
Reading Time 3 min

A sacramental worldview

By Fr. Steven Oetjen

The annunciation is one of the most commonly depicted scenes in sacred art. It is a scene on which we Catholics often meditate, whether we are looking at an image of it or we are praying the rosary or the Angelus. As we near the end of the Advent season, let us consider the annunciation not as something that we merely think about but as something that we can touch. That is, let us consider it with a sacramental worldview.

12/17/20
Reading Time 3 min

You are called

By Fr. Jack Peterson
A fitting celebration of Christmas demands preparation. It demands an effort to ponder the depth of the beauty and mystery of God’s love and truth poured out in this seismic event that took place in the fullness of time in the tiny town of Bethlehem. For this, we need a period of spiritual preparation. Hence, the church provides us with the four weeks of Advent.
12/11/20
Reading Time 4 min

Right and just

By Carol Anne Jones

One of the names we use for Mass or the Blessed Sacrament is “holy Eucharist.” The word “Eucharist” comes from Greek and means “thanksgiving.” Going to weekly Mass is literally sharing as God’s family in a thanksgiving banquet of love (The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1328). We give God our worship and thanks with contrite hearts, and he gives us Jesus to be our food for eternal life and to help us meet the daily challenges we face.

12/10/20
Reading Time 2 min

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