A Dancing Baby and Other Notes From the Choir

by Lorraine V. Murray August 4, 2003

It is the first rehearsal for the Emory University Chorus, and I am sitting in a seat in a huge classroom next to a college student who beams me a shy grin and tells me her name is Jeanna. My husband and I have been singing in our tiny church choir for years, but we have been eager to stretch our wi

Faith in Focus

Why I Still Want to Be a Priest

by Patrick J. Ryan, S.J. July 21, 2003August 14, 2025

In the week before my ordination 35 years ago, America published an article I had written entitled “Why I Want to Be a Priest” (6/8/68). I recall the circumstances in which I wrote it.

Faith in Focus

Sacred Heart Spirituality

by Rosemary Feerick June 23, 2003

The image of Jesus that greets me as I walk into the school is familiar. His arms are opened wide in a gesture of welcome. The heart that is carved on his chest is surrounded by thorns and flames. Bright morning sunshine pours through the window behind him. In many ways, I’ve grown up i

Faith in Focus

Standing for the Unborn: A Statement of the Society of Jesus in the United States on Abortion

by Published by the Office of Social and International Ministries of the Jesuit Conference May 26, 2003

On this feast of the Annunciation of Our Lord, we, the leadership of the Jesuits in the United States, fervently renew our opposition to abortion and our support for the unborn. In treating this delicate and controversial topic, we hope to provide our brother Jesuits, colleagues, parishioners and st

Faith in Focus

The Sign of the Cross

by Robert P. Maloney May 19, 2003

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

Faith in Focus

Sometimes Your Best Friends Do Tell You

by Mary Sherry May 12, 2003

My two friends have been searching for a long time. They need a place to worship. He was brought up in a rigid Baptist tradition; she was brought up in a rigid Catholic tradition. I am not reporting on their search, because, after all, it is theirs. While I can identify with their search in many way

Faith in Focus

On Being Gentle and Firm

by Robert P. Maloney April 28, 2003

About once a month here in Rome, I go to St. Peter’s and enter when the doors open at 7 a.m. It is awesome to gaze at the huge, empty basilica as the morning light filters through the windows. Lately I have found myself immediately drawn to the altar of Pope John XXIII, where an older Italian

Faith, Faith in Focus

Portraying Dorothy Day

by George M. Anderson April 28, 2003

Portraying Dorothy Day on a stage would seem a challenge of formidable proportions in and of itself. But to do those portrayals in a series of makeshift settings, church sanctuaries and communal dining rooms—as well as on actual stages—raises the stakes of such a challenge. Sarah Melici

Faith in Focus

Tyler the Tightwad

by Alma Roberts Giordan April 21, 2003

He saves, he hoards, he gloats over his cache of candy: my grandson, Tyler the Tightwad. He’s never heard of Silas Marner or Shylock or any of those other renowned literary misers, being barely four years old. Nor is he ungenerous in any other direction. In this case, however, he truly is a sk

Faith, Faith in Focus