Joyful InspirationThe June 17 issue has been a source of pure joy for me. The cover with its colors and, I hope, authentic maternity clothes and the singing and dancing of all parties is so true to Jewish life. Miriam looks like a Jewish girl. Elizabeth must have been able to give her cousin true wo

Progress in unity among Christians does not occur step by step. Communions of Christians do not stand still. They are constantly developing within themselves and forming new communions, sometimes adopting new structures and practices, at other times recovering ways that were once held in common. As

Not long ago a friend asked if I could recommend a good book on Ignatian spirituality He was an intelligent college-educated young man interested not simply in deepening his prayer but more specifically learning about what could be called the specifics of the way of Saint Ignatiusfor example t

Labor Priest Gets Medal of FreedomMsgr. George G. Higgins, since the 1940’s one of America’s most noted labor priests, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom during White House ceremonies on Aug. 9. For more than 60 years now, he has organized, marched, prayed and bled for the social

When you have a party, invite the poor. I have been asked, now and then, how someone might vote from the perspective of Gospel values, Christian values, Catholic values. Usually, I demur, not because I am reluctant to answer, but because I don’t think such questions are really serious. If I sa

My reading habits have recently taken a surprising turn. Despite the Jesuit training that introduced me to such recondite authors as Karl Rahner, Edward Schillebeeckx and Hans Urs von Balthasar (don’t theologians have great names?), I now find myself reading books no longer than 10 or 20 pages

The struggle of low-wage workers in the United States for survival stands in striking contrast to the booming economy. The stock market, occasional setbacks notwithstanding, has roared to dizzying heights. Business profits have soared. Yet minimum-wage jobs pay 30 percent less in real, inflation-adj

Not long ago a friend asked if I could recommend a good book on Ignatian spirituality He was an intelligent college-educated young man interested not simply in deepening his prayer but more specifically learning about what could be called the specifics of the way of Saint Ignatiusfor example t

The turn in spirit is inevitable, a sudden ambivalence. Longing for a few hours without the kids, I rush around the house preparing the children for a day with a care provider other than myself. With eager anticipation I spread the peanut butter and jelly. I wash the breakfast dishes, pack extra clo

This summer radio listeners in the Boston area have had a steady diet of ads for a touring company of Peter Pan. The attention-grabber is a line from its most familiar song: I won’t grow up; I don’t want to go to school. Great fun for all the family. Günter Grass, however, might have be

Judgment and JusticeAs American Catholic higher education settles into a long, edgy period of applying the norms of Ex Corde Ecclesiae, I want to go into the record with emphasis on several concepts that, I think, have become marginalized during the nearly two decades of Canon 812’s existence.

For many years Jonathan Kozol has attended to school children in impoverished neighborhoods The author of several award-winning books including Death at an Early Age and Amazing Grace he has taught those boys and girls observed them carefullyand in some instances has come to know them well outsi

"See how they love one another." According to Tertullian, a Christian writing in 197, this was the amazed comment of outsiders observing the members of the new Christian sect that was then sweeping the Roman Empire. That was in the second century, early in the history of Christianity. Duri

Two scientific teams, one public and one private, jointly announced in June that their researchers, working separately, had deciphered the human genetic code. Elation in the scientific community and extensive media coverage signaled the importance of their accomplishment for the capabilities of medi

Revision of the General Instruction of the Roman MissalThe new General Instruction of the Roman Missal, published in Latin and released on July 28 in Washington, D.C., in an English study translation, introduces numerous minor changes in the way Mass is to be celebrated.It also makes a clear legisla

The Chinese had no pocketsno place to carry quot a pocket-comb a folding foot-rule a cork-screw a boot-buttoner a pair of tweezers a minute compass a folding pair of scissors a pin-ball a pocket-mirror a fountain pen quot or any other such American-made product Moreover the Chinese we

The problem with gasoline prices is not that they have been too high this summer, but that they have been too low for the past two decades. American drivers do not want to hear this hard truth, and American politicians are making matters worse by playing the blame game and proposing silly solutions