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Faith
Kevin O'Brien
Every semester begins the same way. I walk to the door of the classroom and catch my breath. Like an actor walking on stage, the nervousness of a teacher on the first day—or any day—is natural.
The Word
Dianne Bergant
How does one go on when life seems to have been torn apart at the seams Loved ones die others turn away from us we are forced to assume responsibility we never chose We want things to be what they were before but we know that they never will be The world is just not the same and we are not su
Edward M. Welch
From 2003, a warning about the salary inequalities on Wall Street and elsewhere
Books
Ed Block
A quaintly phrased prologue seeks a ldquo most gracious and deliberate rdquo reader rsquo s trust The voice of ldquo a minor cleric rdquo a preacher long at his post reveals that he has committed ldquo Davidic sins rdquo But now in older age he rests content in his work because of the st
John F. Kavanaugh
It was unjust to go to war in Iraq. There was no imminent threat; there was no proper authority; and it was not a last resort. No, I am not going to keep quiet because we won. Winning is not the determinant of good. Nor do the good outcomes we hope forpeace and just representation for the Iraqi peop
Drew Christiansen
In Rome and Jerusalem, proposals have been made to divide the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and to establish alongside it a church jurisdiction for Hebrew-speaking Catholics in Israel. This new jurisdiction would be directly dependent on Rome and independent of the local Latin (Roman Catholic) pat
The Word
Dianne Bergant
The command to love is found in the report of the Last Supper discourse This exhortation is considered the heart of Jesus rsquo teaching certainly in John rsquo s Gospel Love for others is here grounded in God rsquo s love for Jesus and Jesus rsquo resulting love for us It is a profound messag
Faith in Focus
Robert P. Maloney
My niece’s friend asked: “Does the Sign of the Cross always have to be made with the right hand?” Another friend reacted immediately: “Of course it must.” A third retorted, “But isn’t that awkward for a left-handed person?” An account of this debate th
Books
Peter Heinegg
The great bulk of Thomas Keneally rsquo s 30-some books have been fiction but he rsquo s at his best when dealing with facts as in his splendid novelized biography Schindler rsquo s List 1993 his family-clan-nation epic The Great Shame and the Triumph of the Irish in the English-Speaking Worl
Theater
James S. Torrens, S.J.
“El Niño,” the winter child that blows up a storm, is also the name of an oratorio by the modern composer John Adams. It celebrates the coming of the miraculous child, Jesus, as recorded in the Nativity scenes and as interpreted expansively between the scenes, often with Latin Ame
Poetry
Dorothy Ryan

At twenty-one, a new Hunter College graduate,

Editorials
The Editors
Heavier burdens are in store for single mothers who currently receive Temporary Aid to Needy Families—if the administration and the House of Representatives have their way in the re-authorization of the 1996 welfare reform law. The re-authorization was to have taken place before last Oct. 1, b
FaithThe Word
Dianne Bergant
If Jesus ascended into heaven, might we still find his body up there?
Of Many Things
George M. Anderson
With their sky high prices, Broadway-level shows are largely unknown to me. But thanks to an actor friend at my parish, I received a complimentary ticket to a matinee performance of “Hank Williams: Lost Highway,” which until late June will be playing on West 42 Street. It arrived there a
Books
Doris Donnelly
Not very long ago the only people who knew about Megan McKenna were those who heard her lecture in college courses or who were present at conferences conventions and retreats where she was a featured speaker Reports filtered back from these occasions that she was an accomplished storyteller who c
Edward M. Welch
There is a growing consensus that the top executives of our corporations appear to be overly compensated and that something needs to be done about this. The Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan, has spoken about infectious greed in American corporate leadership. Business Week has pointed out tha
Joseph A. Califano Jr.
Despite promising statistics indicating recent declines in youth substance use, more than a quarter of high school girls currently smoke cigarettes and binge drink, almost half drink alcohol regularly, and one in five uses marijuana. Another 4 percent use cocaine and inhalants.A three-year study by
Letters
Our readers

R.I.P.

It’s never easy to lose a friend, and when I heard on April 29 that Alma Roberts Giordan had died, I felt a deep loss, tempered only by the fact that we had brought affirmation and joy into each other’s lives. She certainly had done the same for readers of America, as your respected and wise octogenarian writer (Am., 4/21)

I first came upon the name Alma Giordan some 40 years ago, when I would be reading a Catholic magazine carrying one of the articles I had written. There, in that same issue, would often be an enjoyable article by Alma. Then, 21 years ago, when I accepted a position as executive editor of The Litchfield County Times in Connecticut, then a brand new paper, waiting for me that first week was a stack of articles submitted by freelance writers. I was surprised to see a familiar name, Alma Giordan. It didn’t take long for me to call her.

Wonderful friendships often begin in coincidental ways. It turned out that Alma had been happily married to Bob Giordan, an artist, since 1939 and had never stopped writing for magazines, secular ones like Good Housekeeping, the Saturday Evening Post and McCall’s, and religious ones like America, Liguorian and Catholic Digest.

I happily accepted much of her work, often illustrated by her husband until his death, finding that Alma had a special gift. She could take the ordinary, small things we encounter every day and make these vibrate with life with her observations and words. She painted the mundane elements of this world that we all encounter in a way that highlighted how truly profound these arebe they a chipmunk, a crocus, a shoe, a mourning dove, a dogwood tree stump. She had the gift of seeing, as a poet expressed it, the God of things, and she could express this wonder beautifully, yet asking, Are words really necessary at the instant of a scarlet poppy’s miraculous unfolding? Is not my involuntary gasp of delight perhaps a more genuine prayer?

Last year she collected some of her good published work (several items were columns I had placed in The Litchfield County Times) and produced a book. I read it all in one sitting, enjoying her gift of seeing wonder and beauty that most of us need to be prodded to see. She called the book What This Old Hand Knows, the title of a truly notable piece she had written for America, an ode to the remarkable gift that is the human hand, our telltale lifeline (10/3/98). The book was humorously illustrated with her husband’s legacy of sketches, many of which I remember well.

Alma and I remained devoted friends. We were supposed to have lunch together this week. While I think she is having a more sumptuous banquet in a new and glorious place, we’ll nevertheless all be missing her.

Antoinette Bosco

News
From AP, CNS, RNS, Staff and other sources
Bishop Lifts Ban on Voice of the Faithful MeetingsBishop Thomas V. Daily of Brooklyn has lifted his ban on the use of church property for meetings of the lay group Voice of the Faithful. Bishop Daily said his decision was based on the recommendations of a diocesan committee, headed by Auxiliary Bish
News
From AP, CNS, RNS, Staff and other sources
Eucharist Greatest Gift Christ Gave Church, Says EncyclicalThe Eucharist is the greatest gift Christ left his church, a gift that makes the sacrifice of his life present for all time and gives strength and hope to the world, Pope John Paul II wrote in a new encyclical letter. The pope said he issued