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Poetry
James S. Torrens, S.J.

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
Arts & CultureBooks
George M. Anderson
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
The Word
One of the great themes in Luke rsquo s Gospel is forgiveness of sins As we return this Sunday to the Lectionary readings for Ordinary Time today rsquo s texts place before us three forgiven sinners David Paul and a ldquo sinful woman rdquo These three figures remind us of the horror of sin
The Good Word
Thomas D. Stegman
Wading into the deep waters of Trinitarian reflection is always risky especially for folks like me who don t know how to swim The problem of course is not God s it is our inability to take it all in But the Feast of the Holy Trinity invites us consider how much God desires that we rec
The Good Word
Jim McDermott
One of the many proofs that God has a sense of humor and a wicked one is that Jesuit ordinations and first masses in the United States often fall on the weekend of Trinity Sunday In my experience for the newly ordained Jesuit the Trinity is the theological equivalent of Charlie Brown s friend
The Good Word
John W. Martens
This passage might be seen as a theological call to arms for the scholar of Paul justification faith and grace Sound the trumpet draw the battle lines let the weary warriors of the 16th century come forth By now we all know or ought to that we are all justified by faith in Christ and so sta
The Good Word
Tim Reidy
A number of readers have asked for access to past Word columns So every week on The Good Word we will post America s Word column for the upcoming Sunday in addition to past columns for the same cycle of readings Here are Fr Dan Harrington s reflections on Trinity Sunday Dianne Bergan
The Good Word
Richard Leonard
The first time I preached on the Feast of the Most Trinity was on my first appointment as a deacon at the parish of Kings Cross Kings Cross is the red light district of Sydney I was the luckiest deacon in Sydney because my 70 year old Irish Jesuit parish priest Fr Donal Taylor never directly sa
The Good Word
Michael Patella, OSB
Fire air earth and water considered in the classical world to be the four elements essential to the composition of the cosmos surface in the Pentecost reading We see the fire in the descirption of the tongues of flame carried in by the rushing air resting above the heads of those gathered in
Faith in Focus
Willard F. Jabusch

It would not be easy to forget Sister Lucía, the frail little nun whom I met in a strange and terrible place, the Manicomio de San Lazaro in Quito, Ecuador.

Arts & CultureBooks
Michael V. Tueth
Dancing in the Streets is a study of the gatherings of people for frenzied communal festivity or what the author Barbara Ehrenreich calls ldquo collective joy rdquo throughout the ages It is a thoroughgoing piece of social history The book should also appeal to students of religion drama pol
Current Comment
The Editors
Big Deal for Big PharmaBy a vote of 49 to 40, the Senate approved an amendment that effectively excludes U.S. citizens from importing prescription drugs from abroad. The amendment requires prior F.D.A. certification of imported medicines, certification the administration says the agency is not equip
Columns
Margaret Silf
Global politics can sometimes have unexpected, and very local, side effects. I guess it’s a bit like the proverbial butterfly flapping its wings in the Indian Ocean and causing a tornado in Kentucky. Events that seem remote and impersonal can cause tidal waves in the lives of very small people.
Joseph A. Califano Jr.
The recent report of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, Wasting the Best and the Brightest: Substance Abuse at America’s Colleges and Universities, reveals a disturbing ambiance of hedonistic self-indulgence and an alarming public health crisis on college campuses across this nation.
Letters

Matter for Reflection

Your advertisement that reads, Do you have a child or grandchild going to a non-Catholic college? Give them a Catholic education. Send them America. (4/9) has appeared numerous times over the past several years. As a Catholic ecumenist, I have always wondered how this advertisement strikes religion teachers and librarians in non-Catholic colleges, both secular and those sponsored by Protestant religious bodies.

I believe your excellent publication should be in the hands of college students regardless of the sponsorship of their college. I began my subscription to America upon the recommendation of my campus minister at the secular university I had attended in 1969.

I taught for many years in an American Baptist college in my town; two of my daughters and two of my nephews attended a United Methodist College in a nearby town; and, quite frankly, I believe that religion teachers and librarians at these two colleges could be offended by your advertisement. I find myself wondering how Catholic theologians teaching at non-Catholic universities and seminaries might feel as well. The finest Catholic and non-Catholic colleges and universities should encourage religious inquiry that is respectful of the many religious traditions represented within their student bodies. There is, I believe, a subtle implication in your advertisement that the Catholic faith of students attending non-Catholic colleges is in some sort of peril. Although this may be true at some colleges, I cannot believe this is generally true, certainly not true among the non-Catholic colleges with America in their libraries or on the suggested reading lists of their religion teachers.

Finally, a word about the use of the term non-Catholic. That it appears in your advertisement is understandable, because the term is freely used throughout the Catholic community. Nonetheless, to thoughtful persons from other faith traditions this term must surely be offensive. Never, in all my 33 years of active involvement in the ecumenical apostolate, has anyone referred to me and other members of the Catholic Church as non-Presbyterians, non-Episcopalians, non-Orthodox, non-Protestants or non-anything else, for that matter. Surely this issue does not concern the editors of your publication alone. Rather, I believe it should be a matter for reflection generally within the Catholic Church.

A. Ray Shaw

Arts & CultureBooks
Bill Williams
Ayaan Hirsi Ali was living in Holland on Sept 11 2001 when jetliners piloted by Muslim fanatics crashed into the World Trade Center killing thousands As a Muslim Ali had urgent questions Was this really Islam Did Islam permit even call for this kind of slaughter Did I as a Muslim approv
The Word
Two of the most important words in any language that I know are truth and love As we observe Trinity Sunday and reflect on the Christian doctrine of God as three persons in one God the Scripture readings also remind us that the God of the Christian Bible mdash Father Son and Holy Spirit mdash is
Editorials
The Editors
Memorial Day dates to 1868 and General John Logan, commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, who called for a day to honor fallen Union and Confederate soldiers. As on that occasion, this Memorial Day we pause to give thanks, grieve and consider the sacrifices that American soldiers have made for this country.
Bobby Muller
As we enter the fifth year of our nation’s war in Iraq, I am deeply distressed by the state of the American military and by the rate at which our government and the citizenry at large are betraying those who volunteer to serve our country. There is a social contract between a country and those it sends to fight for it, and America’s social contract is broken.