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Letters
Worth the Reading Many thanks for the recent Of Many Things column (4/30) by Patricia A. Kossmann. I always make it a point to read anything that bears her byline. Thus, this expression of gratitude has been long in coming. She always mentions books that would ordinarily slip by without being notice
The Word
Summer is a good time to travel Many of us interrupt the normal flow of life and go elsewhere for a while Travel allows us to meet different people and see different things and we often come away refreshed and renewed At least that is what we hope Today we begin a journey with Jesus and his di
Of Many Things
One of nature’s ironies is that when it comes to wildflowers, the semi-arid West, even the desert Southwest in springtime, outdoes the green-forested East. I am told the secret is sunlight. The open forests and high meadows of the Sierra Nevada or Colorado’s San Juan Mountains seem to sp
Arts & CultureBooks
A new book traces the development of human rights.
Faith in Focus
Each year I spend at least a few weeks in the deserts of the Southwest. My favorite places include the high desert canyons of northwest New Mexico, the Great Sonora Desert of Arizona, Death Valley, and the Big Bend area in Texas. Many of my friends in New York City cannot quite understand the attrac
Several readers have asked how to locate articles from Americas archives on our new Web site. All articles from 2001 until the present are available, and free, to all who register. You can search our database by author, keyword or title on our advanced search page. You can also search by issue by en
Editorials
As Hispanics in the United States increase in number, they will likely exert more influence on the nation as a whole, and especially on the U.S. Catholic Church. For while Hispanics make up 14.2 percent of the populace, they make up more than a third of its Catholics, a percentage expected to increa
The Good Word
The gospel this week dwells on the theme of hospitality -- that which we offer both to one another and to God and that which God offers to us The intimacy and in a sense extravagance with which the sinful woman welcomes Jesus is sharply contrasted with that of Peter the Pharisee who neither welc
The Good Word
The late Bishop Untener warns homilists not to tell stories just for laughs I suppose we ve all done it We hear a good joke and feel the need to pass it on to others The Sunday congregation fits that bill nicely Even if the story somehow dovetails with the readings it s probably too colourf
The Good Word
Throughout his letters Paul s statements display the enormity of his conversion experience One of the starkest statements he makes occurs in Galatians 2 20 I have been crucified with Christ yet I live no longer I but Christ lives in me insofar as I now live in the flesh I live by faith in
The Good Word
This Sunday is the 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time and Father s Day It s strange but true Because of when Easter fell there was no 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time either in 2001 or 2004 As a result neither John Donahue nor Dianne Bergant ever wrote about this Sunday s set of readings for A
The Good Word
According to popular interpretation Barnabas means a person who consoles and encourages this name was given to a certain Joseph from Crete who some weeks each year served in the liturgical functions of the Jerusalem Temple We meet him first in the Acts of the Apostles where he is praised fo
The Good Word
Well is it for many or for all Even here on the Southern tip of Africa where the number of Catholic mother tongue English speakers is minuscule it s also a hot topic Our local Catholic paper has been running a muscular correspondence between prelates liturgists and pew-sitters H
The Good Word
This Sunday is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ For Daniel Harrington s comments on the readings click here For Dianne Bergant s 2004 comments on the readings click here For John Donahue s 2001 comments on the readings click here Jim McDermott SJ
The Good Word
Blessed Ordinary Time when everything in the Divine Office is simple and simply in one place A time when we are relieved of that maddening fiddling and flipping back and forth which a confrere of mine calls an occasion of sin Blessed is this time when there are no liturgical extravaganzas to
Arts & CultureBooks
ldquo A bright mulatto is stripped to a nude condition and a careful examination is made of all parts of the body by the Dr and she is pronounced by him to be sound The money is then paid and she is transferred to her new owner rdquo With this mid-19th-century description of the sale of a
Of Many Things
You may not have noticed, but the listing of associate editors on the masthead of this journal is determined by seniority. When I returned from the Philippines in the Spring of 1972 to join the staff, my name was added at the end of a list of seven other Jesuits who had preceded me. Immediately ahea
Columns
Nearly 30 years have passed since I very innocently asked one of my parish priests, the Rev. Maurice Burke, why Northern Ireland was a killing zone. I was a young reporter at the time, assigned to write a story about this foreign place that, frankly, meant very little to me. I knew one of my grandparents had been born in Ireland, but beyond that, I knew nothing besides the story of St. Patrick and the snakes.
Poetry
I have just finished reading about 1,000 poems submitted for America’s annual Foley poetry contest. Garrison Keillor, of “Prairie Home Companion,” says he read 2,000 poems on the topic of spring to pick 15 for his radio show on April Fool’s weekend. Wearying as that is, we both seem to have enjoyed and been touched by the contact with so many lives and inner worlds and imaginations, to say nothing of personal losses and gains.
Welcome to the new and improved Web site for America magazine! Have a look around and tell us what you think. You can email us at webeditor@americamagazine.org or post a comment below. In addition to a sharp new look, America’s site is now home to America Connects, featuring all new web-only