Adlai E. Stevenson would not have fared well in the 2007 presidential primary debates, though he was perhaps the greatest American orator of the 20th century. “Religious experience is highly intimate,” the two-time presidential candidate once said, “and, for me, ready words are not
The adjective motley means variegated in color By extension it can refer to any grouping of diverse and often incongruent elements The expression motley crew describes a loosely organized group of very different persons joined together sometimes unconsciously to achieve a goal The Scripture rea
Of all the dizzying questions devised 8220 How did language begin 8221 has to rank near the top Humans plainly learn to speak by imitation but back in the beginning who was there to imitate We can 8217 t talk without a vocabulary and syntax 8212 but where did they come from All the earli
Cambridge MA Allow me to introduce myself I am a Jesuit of the New York Province which I entered in 1968 at the old St Andrew s Novitiate just north of Poughkeepsie For over two decades I taught in the Theology Department at Boston College a very wonderful educational and theological en
Looking for holiday gift ideas Check out a selection of Christmas reading picks from America s editors now online and free to all Includes new books like Darwin s Angel John Cornwell s critique of Richard Dawkins and old favorites like Death Comes for the Archbishop and Mr Ives Christ
8220 Rejoice in the Lord always Again I say rejoice 8221 Phil 4 4 Reading or hearing these words of St Paul always make me recall the simple musical round that was popular a few decades ago composed by whom when nbsp It almost automatically brings a smile to my face and makes me want
That s what I wanted to know when my publisher used that phrase As it turns out a book trailer is only the latest way of introducing the webby Youtubey crowd to books It s like a trailer or a coming attraction for a new movie only for a new book Like movie trailers they re short
OK so the Catholic Book Club hasn t gone anywhere Every month since 1928 the CBC--as we fondly call it--has been picking the best in Catholic fiction and non-fiction for the benefit of America s readers first via a subscription mail service and now on the Web But we recently unveiled a newl
A classic American text John Graves s Goodbye to a River celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this year This non-fiction work chronicles Graves s three-week trip down the Brazos River in Texas and along the journey Graves reflects on nature his own life and local history with remarkably cr
It is widely assumed in Jesuit circles that when the Jesuit electors meet in Rome for their thirty-fifth general congregation they will issue a document treating globalization and environmental issues The major first focus of GC35 will be of course to elect a new superior general of the Jesuits
Yesterday National Public Radio s show On Point produced by WBUR in Boston arranged a conversation on The Golden Compass with Hanna Rosin the journalist who wrote a terrific piece in The Atlantic Monthly that told the story of the way that the film s producers grappled with the controv
I m not sure what s worse about this story Nun Reads List of Curse Words to Kids That it was listed on MSN com s home page as one of the top stories of the day That so far 86 news organizations have picked it up Or that it caters to the same hoary anti-Catholic stereotypes about women re
Some of you may know that America s former editor Thomas Reese S J is a contributor to On Faith a blog co-sponsored by Newsweek and the Washington Post Well here s Fr Reese on Mitt Romney s speech on religion and politics Governor Mitt Romney s speech shows the importance of havi
For many Christians it has perhaps become commonplace to view Advent as a season of inevitability, a ritual expectation of the birth of the Son of God, surely, but one that lacks suspense. We already know how the story will turn out, dont we? The Holy Family will make it to Bethlehem; they will find