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The Word
Ash Wednesday has become a virtual sacrament of Catholic identity as people throng churches to get ashes which paradoxically is just what the Gospel counsels againstexternal signs of devotion It also begins not simply the 40 days preceding Easter but the whole paschal cycle which continues past
Of Many Things
Is there a vocation crisis? That depends on your perspective. If you think of clergy, the answer is yes. But if you widen the horizon, the picture changes. Think of the number of laymen volunteering to become deacons or the extraordinary number of women presently acquiring advanced degrees in system
A few months ago, the Rev. Peter J. Sammon reported in America (8/26) on the Living Wage movement, which has emerged in response to the increased numbers of working poor and the growing wage inequality in society. This circumstance is especially troubling at a time of such economic prosperity. Livin
The U.S. bishops issued a statement at their November meeting in Washington, D.C., called Welcoming the Stranger Among Us. Although largely intended as guidelines for parishes with many new members who come from other countries and cultures, the document also makes brief but pointed reference to the
Books
Near the end of this eye-opening book the renowned Peruvian economist and businessman Hernando de Soto trots out Bill Gates the world rsquo s richest man to bring home his argument about the world rsquo s poorest people Apart from his personal genius how much of his success is due to his cultur
Not since the invention of television has a new technology portended such changes in the way we live as has the Internet. Internet access continues to triple each year, and the content of the World Wide Web grows exponentially at regular intervals. People are using the Internet not only to receive n
Nearly 20 years presiding over classrooms of college freshmen provided me ample opportunity to confirm or question the conclusions of developmental psychology. One popular parlor trick used to engage students in the learning experience was to ask them to recall, in as much detail as possible, their
Editorials
George Bush and Bill Clinton both wanted to be an education president and both wanted to make U.S. public schools the best in the world. Neither succeeded, although in his various farewells Mr. Clinton talked as though he thought he had. Two immovable obstacles blocked their way.In the first place,
Books
Ari Goldman and I worked side by side some 20 years ago at The New York Times We admired each other I think for a perceived seriousness in the way we went about covering the religion beat It wasn rsquo t just a job it was a vocationto get the story right not just get it written But we were not
The Word
Whether dispensed by Ann Landers Miss Manners a legion of talk show hosts or reams of self-help books handy advice on a host of matters is as American as apple pie Whatever their lofty and diverse religious ideals people live out of a store of folk wisdom A stitch in time saves nine You do w
News
Funding for Faith-Based Initiatives Seen as First HurdleThe first real test of whether President Bush’s proposed faith-based initiatives will succeed in changing the way the nation’s social services are provided will come in his budget proposal, said an official with Catholic Charities U
Arlo Guthries classic 1960s folk song, which told us you could get anything you want at Alices Restaurant, has its 90s counterpart on the Internet. There you can visit Go Ask Alice, Columbia Universitys funky site for straight shooting, nonjudgmental answers concerning your physical, emotional, and
Faith in Focus
When the project Preaching the Just Word was initiated almost 10 years ago, I applauded. After my recent participation in a five-day retreat/workshop with 66 other Jesuits, I stand converted to a program with enormous power and potential. At the age of 75, Father Walter J. Burghardt, S.J., had finis
Books
Richard Epstein the James Parker Hall Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Chicago is a notable member of the so-called law and economics movement which promotes within the field of law the free-market economics of Milton Friedman and his successors This movement holds that the pu
Letters
Literate Praise
Thank you for America. Especially for its coverage of literature. Nofor all of it.
We’re made for God, we live and vote and allocate time and money in the world. No other publication speaks fully to our condition. Also, you are the last publication to use correct grammar. That you do all this in New York City astounds me.
Annie Dillard
Just before the November election, I gave a lecture in a parish on Christian responsibility in an election year. I suggested that we have to take a variety of issues into consideration in making a judgment about the best candidate and that voters could opt for a strategy other than legal interdictio
Of Many Things
It doesn’t take much to get me on the Staten Island ferrythat wondrous half-hour trip across the New York harbor to an island that is one of the city’s five boroughs. Usually, the occasion is a friend’s visit to New York City. Few are those who, looking back from the ferry midway,
Books
We are witnessing another world war This is the message of Deliver Us From Evil Unlike World War I and World War II this war is not among nations Conscripted armies do not meet on distant battlefields in defense of national interests No noble purpose informs this war No medals of honor dignify
Editorials
One might hope that 10 years after the end of the cold war, a policy of mutual assured destruction would have been relegated to the dustbin of history. But cold war mental habits die hard. The United States and Russia still square off against each other with tons of chemical weapons and thousands of
The Word
As the religious landscape becomes more pluralistic people especially the young wonder what is most characteristic of Christianity Today rsquo s Gospel presents a paradox Love of enemies compassion mercy and forgiveness appear as the core of Jesus rsquo teaching in Luke rsquo s ldquo Sermon