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"I am the only male member of my family on either side who hasn’t been in jail,” Mark Ford tells me. “During high school I sold and used drugs, I dropped out, and got kicked out twice.” We were speaking in a row house in Camden, N.J., that serves as office space for Hope
Culture
Where do I turn for fresh inspiration? How do I learn from others who practice the spiritual life? Spiritual reading is part of the answer. Great devotional classics encourage me; but I also need contemporary thoughts and insights. New writers (or those who are new to me) keep me reflecting and pray
The Word
It is very convenient to drive up to a metal box place an order turn the corner of the building and pick up a meal in a colorfully decorated bag But indulging our penchant for speed and convenience is often paid for by the loss of human sharing There is something very intimate about eating with
Editorials
At the end of its current term, the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court issued two judgments and 10 opinions concerning the constitutionality of governmental displays of the Ten Commandments. One judgment upheld the permissibility of the 44-year-old display in the Texas Capitol Park of a six-foot gra
Faith
The ministry of deacons has been intertwined with peacemaking from the church’s very beginning.
I used to be a priest, a minister of the Gospel, but I left the priesthood, went to law school and became a lawyer. The other day, as I waited my turn to go before the judge in one of my cases in the criminal courts building here in Houston, I was struck by some fundamental similarities between my f
Letters
Major Source
I commend C. Colt Anderson for acknowledging the action St. Peter Damian took regarding the crime of clerical sexual abuse of children in the 11th century (6/6). The time has come for Catholic scholars to give voice to the hundreds of saints and sinners who have done the same. Peter Damian’s notice to the pope is available in English translation, called the Book of Gomorrah. This is one of the rare major sources of the history of clerical sexual abuse that is available to all.
Patrick J. Wall
Books
In the early spring of 2003 an American daily provided its readers with a map depicting the battle strategy for the U S -led invasion of Iraq The visual was memorable in its simplicity An arrow representing the U S military ground convoy swooped upward through Iraq from the southern border of
Editorials
The annual celebrations of Independence Day commemorate not only the sacrifices made during the American Revolution, but also a more nebulous concept: the American dream, which for many is bound up with the promise of economic success for any hardworking American. Yet the American dream is beginning
A freshman came to my office to discuss his first essay assignment in my lecture course on classics of Christian literature. We had been reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Letters From Prison. The student wondered what the Lutheran pastor imprisoned and executed by the Nazis would have thought of t
The Word
One of the great disappointments of my life was the painful realization that every religious group to which I belong is imperfect This should not have surprised me Religious or not each group is made up of limited human beings Still idealistic as I was I expected more of religious people But
The Rule of Saint Benedict states, in Chapter Three: “The reason we have said that all should be called for counsel is that the Lord often reveals to the younger what is best.” This awareness was doubtless in the mind of our own newly elected Benedict XVI when he said in his first messag
Letters
Many Best Years
I have read America for more than half a century. It has always been an excellent journal of opinion and many of its best years were under the editorship of Thomas J. Reese, S.J. Father Reese is an extraordinarily balanced, well-informed, faithful priest and Catholic leader, and I have had the pleasure of knowing him for the last 10 years.
Tens of millions of Americans had the opportunity to see Father Reese at work during the extended period of television coverage from the end of one papacy to the beginning of another. The timing of his departure could not have been worse!
The Jesuits can be wonderfully proud of Father Reese and America. May God continue to bless your great work. Onward through the fog.
(Most Rev.) John McCarthy
Arts & CultureBooks
Saturday brings Ian McEwan rsquo s novel output to a neat dozen with one exception most of them have tended toward brevity rather than length I have read almost all of them and consider myself a fan Ironically McEwan received the Booker Prize for Amsterdam a short novel of intrigue while his
News
Basil Pennington Dead at 74; Known Worldwide as Writer and Teacher of PrayerAbbot M. Basil Pennington, the Trappist monk known worldwide for his books and ministry on centering prayer, died on June 3 at the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center in Worcester from injuries sustained in a
It seems to have become commonplace lately, especially among those who try to assess the state of the world and make recommendations about the sort of leadership that is needed in the Catholic Church, to bemoan the de-Christianization of Europe, an idea the media have embellished by contrasting Old
Faith in Focus
"Other than the human tragedy, this is a non-event for the energy markets,” said an energy risk manager quoted by The Wall Street Journal (3/25/04), referring to the deadly explosion at the Texas BP oil refinery that took the lives of at least 15 people, injured more than 100 others and t
Of Many Things
Our small caravan drove into Slavonski Brod, a war-torn Croatian city on the banks of the Sava River. It was July 1992, just after the first cessation of conflict in Croatia and at the beginning of the war in Bosnia. From the outskirts of the city, we could see heavy, black smoke rising from downtow
Arts & CultureBooks
The argument of Over the Edge is spelled out clearly in the subtitle the media film television computer games driven by advertisers fixated on the importance of an audience of youthful consumers has changed and corrupted American culture In pushing the limits to attract the younger generatio
Columns
During his seven-and-a-half years as pastor of St. John’s Church in downtown Newark, Msgr. Jim Finnerty has met more than his fair share of unforgettable characters. For starters, there was a fellow who called himself Tony Baloney, an 80-year-old man with no known address. Then there was Mama,