The fact is, no one—no church or priest, friendly gym or unfriendly one—can judge us without our cooperation.
Joe Hoover, S.J.
Joe Hoover, S.J., is America’s poetry editor and producer of a new film, “The Allegory.”
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
Many libraries are ending late fees. They’re showing us an unexpected mercy.
In San Diego and Boston, in Burbank and Chicago and Orange Beach, Ala., libraries all over the country have been ending the dispensing of fines for overdue books.
Posted inArts & Culture, Television
‘Ted Lasso’ and ‘Fleabag’ and all the shows that are too awesome to watch (so I won’t)
My heart is not large enough, my consciousness is not spacious enough for all the spot-on characters, the hectic energies, the ripping stories. I am not skillful, I think, at TV.
Posted inArts & Culture, Poetry
The 2022 Foley Contest: Poetry that speaks the unspeakable about the tragedy in Ukraine
We include fragments of poems that, while not contest finalists, provide one more way for America to shine a light on the ongoing horror in Ukraine.
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
Angry at the church? Mass may be the only place to heal.
The great Catholic irony is that the Mass—that ripe cadenced insane activity at the heart of the church—is weirdly, bizarrely, the right and fitting place to bring our concerns about the Mass itself.
Posted inFaith, Lent Reflections
The power of saying these 6 words: ‘The truth will set you free.’
A Reflection for the Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent, by Joe Hoover, S.J.
Posted inArts & Culture, Short Take
In defense of Pollyanna
The maligning of this girl’s good name has to end. And, at least in our pages, it will end.
Posted inArts & Culture, Ideas
It’s time to cancel the Oscars (and not because of the slap)
Sure, we can talk about excellence. But we shouldn’t accept as fact the idea that we can rank the worth of a piece of art. That is a fiction itself, a fundamental untruth.
Posted inFaith, Lent Reflections
Thank God for Commandments
A Reflection for the First Monday of Lent, by Joe Hoover, S.J.
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
Sarcasm is rarely ever just teasing. More often than not, it hurts.
Can we ultimately trust the smirking ones in our midst, the sarcastic with a clever quip for our every move, for each vulnerable moment?