"We’ve lost everything, and I mean everything. We’ve lost contact with some family members." Kenneth Cain, a New Orleans construction worker, was describing the terrible effects of Hurricane Katrina to The Los Angeles Times. When I read about Mr. Cain, I thought of a friend I k
James Martin, S.J.
The Rev. James Martin, S.J., is a Jesuit priest, author, editor at large at America and founder of Outreach.
Posted inOf Many Things
Of Many Things
Here are two ways God works. First, God seems to clear a path so obviously that you can’t doubt God’s activity. As St. Paul wrote, All things work together for good for those who love God. Second, God seems to make achieving something so difficult that you realize that the struggle is pa
Posted inOf Many Things
Of Many Things
Tom Reese was almost always on the phone. As editor in chief of America, his job mainly entailed reviewing manuscripts, editing articles and proofreading galleys. In the midst of these duties, he also spent time, like any good editor, puzzling over ways to boost circulation and improve the magazine.
Posted inFrom Our Archives
What Should the Next Pope Do?
Over the past months, America asked several prominent Catholics in the United States to look ahead to the challenges that will face the next pope. These American Catholics come from various parts of the country and represent a variety of perspectives. They are theologians, teachers, activists, write
Posted inTelevision
End Times, Nutty Times
Here’s a surefire recipe for a hit television miniseries: Combine the most exciting aspects of The DaVinci Code with the apocalypticism of the wildly popular Left Behind novels, and toss in a bit of The X-Files for good measure. That was probably the logic, or illogic, behind NBC’s new s
Posted inOf Many Things
Of Many Things
We get lots of stuff at America: press releases from Catholic colleges, books from Catholic publishers and, of course, letters from subscribers both pleased and angry at what we publish. Mostly the letters are friendly, charitable and pleasant. Only rarely are they vituperative. Still, even nasty le
Posted inPortfolio
The Illustrated Word: The Saint John’s Bible
By any measure, it is a stunning achievement. Since 1998, the artist Donald Jackson has been diligently at work on the first handwritten, illuminated Bible since the invention of the printing press five centuries ago. Under the auspices of Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minn., and The Lit
Posted inOf Many Things
Of Many Things
Something important happened a few weeks ago, though you didn’t read about it in any newspaper, see it on television or hear about it on the radio. In fact, you didn’t hear about this at all: a small brass key was handed over to my mother by her neighbor across the street. But it was big
Posted inFaith
The Saint of the Sock Drawer
I can’t imagine what led me to focus my childish desires on St. Jude and spend in excess of three weeks’ allowance on a plastic statue instead of, say, another Archie comic book.
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
Lourdes Diary: Seven days at Massabieille: Part Two
‘Even before dawn, there is a Mass being celebrated, and pilgrims are already here, kneeling before the space, running their hands over the rock, praying the Rosary and hoping for healing, as they have been doing since 1858.’