The anniversary of the death of Thomas Merton Dec 10 1968 nbsp is coming up and I offer this meditation from a few years back Spots of time rdquo is what the poet William Wordsworth called those places that imprint themselves so deeply into our minds that simply remembering them can lift our

Mulling over the Senate s health care reform vote this morning and wondering if I would truly be forced to reject a social reform I have spent my entire adult life supporting I found some consolation and common good sense this morning e-thumbing via iPhone through the New York Times opinion secti

The defeat of the Nelson-Hatch amendment that would have truly barred federal funding of abortion from the health care reform bill is a huge setback for the pro-life movement Today it appears that only one Senator Ben Nelson and a handful of Congressmen stand between health care reform that is t

Two Jesuits from the Society s European office in Brussels are at the Climate Conference in Copenhagen as NGO observers part of a team of Franciscans International Jos eacute Ignacio Garcia and Jacques Haers are keeping up a blog with posts in English and in Spanish Hat tip to the UK s redoubt

A great short piece by Melinda Henneberger at Politics Daily nbsp Actually I like to see pieces like just as much in these surprising places--like PD--as in in the Catholic blogosphere since they reach the seekers the curious the doubtful and disbelieving and make them think nbsp Happy Feast

Cardinal Jorge Lozano Barragan who had been quoted nbsp by Pontifex nbsp as saying nbsp that nbsp gays and lesbians could not enter the Reign of God says that he has been misquoted nbsp nbsp After his remarks were made public in Pontifex and made several Italian papers not to mention AP the

Well I ll bet that you re just now starting to receive or send Christmas cards this year nbsp And I ll bet that most of them include pictures of the Virgin and Child nbsp Our upcoming Christmas issue has a special image--with a fascinating history--of Mary and her infant son on its cover n

Dice are rolling knives are out goes a lyric from the musical about political intrigue Evita As the Senate debates the Nelson-Hatch amendment which would ban federal funding for abortion in ways similar to the Stupak Amendment which passed the House last month the USCCB decided to roll the

You may already be aware that a vigorous discussion of Fr Michael Ryan s article Why Don t We Just Say Wait is ongoing in the article s comments boxes But perhaps you did not know that our podcast this week features an interview with Father Ryan Father Ryan talks about his experience with t

Reader Kevin has pointed out that on NPR this morning Steve Inskeep did not use the word irony but the word awkward in describing the President s accepting the Nobel Peace Prize one week after announcing an increase in troops for Afghanistan I went back and listened again and Kevin is absolu

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary causes difficulties for this biblical scholar for though biblical passages are read on the feast day none of them clearly support the doctrine as promulgated by the Church This is not to say that the Church through its Tradition does not have acces

What rsquo s not to admire about a blockbuster exhibition of American narrative paintings that includes acknowledged masterpieces by the likes of John Singleton Copley Charles Willson Peale Winslow Homer Thomas Eakins John Singer Sargent Mary Cassatt George Bellows and Frederick Remington Thi

This morning on NPR Steve Inskeep was interviewing Cokie Roberts They were discussing the President rsquo s decision to send more troops ndash and many more civilian aid workers ndash to Afghanistan Yesterday on the morning news shows Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defe

Expansion of U.S. forces in Afghanistan is likely to stress the military beyond the breaking point.

John Allen's 'The Future Church,' reviewed

Our literary editor's gift picks for the holidays