William Van Ornum

Last week there was an extra collection in our parish for retired priests and religious The end of the year brings many of us lay and clergy alike to reflect upon our life count our blessings and see where we are headed in the future Most readers of America are at the age where they either are

Father Jim Martin s recent blog on the Wisconsin apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary rekindled thoughts about and an assessment of what these visions really mean Over a hundred years ago William James considered by many to be the Father of American Psychology wondered similar thoughts and unde

How can free-market capitalism be made less inimical to democracy America s editors raised this question last week The future of democratic government requires greater distance between finance and government not an easy task given the modern expectation that government manages the economy It als

The past few months I ve been impressed with the coverage of New York Times writer Robert Pear in his coverage of how legislation and politics are affecting health care His articles are highly detailed and he shows he has done a great deal of homework in preparing them Underlying his reports I f

Part of America s mission is to find Christ in culture so it seems natural to look for Him in in that part of culture not involving art music theater or other written and visual arts sports and in particular–baseball Today brings sad notice that Ron Santo beloved third baseman of the Chicag

On December 1 1958 a fire broke out at Our Lady of the Angels School in Chicago Illinois Ninety-two children and three nuns died in the fire that occurred 52 years today Afterwards sweeping changes were made in fire codes across the nation and firefighters in training still study the OLA fire

Depression and other mental health problems represent an increasing concern on college campuses Now to me this is worth some analysis and speculation as there are so many preventative services community mental health centers informed pediatricians skilled private practitioners extensive work-up

Sometimes I m benumbed by many requests from charities that fill the snail mail or electronic mailboxes Still other times I m on the other side trying to publicize a good cause so that some will be encouraged to help out in some manner I suspect many readers of America have found themselves in si

For those wishing to read to the end of Mortimer Adler s book previously discussed here his main theme is that the power of conceptual human thought is unduplicated anywhere else in the Universe It is the immaterial component in his constitution that makes him a person requires his special cre

Several months ago I mentioned a book by philosopher Mortimer J Adler The Difference of Man and the Difference It Makes and noted that we d be having an online discussion here in the fall The reprinted edition of this book is offered by Fordham University Press and most if not all of the book