There Are No Minority Americans
One night recently I was visiting with a group of friends and listening to the music of Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Nina Simone, John Coltrane and Ray Charles. Our conversation about African-American culture turned to a thought-provoking question: Why do more and more African-Americans reject the c
The Deadly Legacy of War in Vietnam
While playing with his little brother next to their home in Quang Tri province, Giang, five at the time, picked up an explosive device. It detonated. His three-year-old brother was killed instantaneously. Giang lost a hand and an eye and still has several pieces of shrapnel embedded in his body. He
Are American Catholics in Decline?
Professors Rodney Stark and Roger Finke, who teach sociology at the University of Washington and Purdue University respectively, think the Catholic Church will suffer membership reverses characteristic of mainline Protestant denominations. The two professors offered the following observations on the
Primacy in Communion
In December 1998 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published a remarkable document titled "Reflections on the Primacy of Peter" (hereafter "Reflections"; see Origins, 1/28/99). At the outset, "Reflections" states that popes should exercise their authority &
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
Of course, there were differences of opinion about "Jesus," the two-part movie shown on the CBS-TV network in mid-May. There were intense differences of opinion about the film's hero during his earthly lifetime, and there have been radical differences of opinion ever since he died on a
Letters
Letters
Visions of God's JusticeFelicitations on your education issue (5/20). Space being precious, I single out the article by James E. Hug, S.J., on education for justice–a candid, straightforward, courageous challenge to our Jesuit educational enterprise. It spells out for that ministry what several
Editorials
Solidarity in Globalization
More than 2,500 years ago the Greek historian Herodotus observed that if anyone were given the opportunity of choosing from among all the nations of the world the best set of beliefs, he would inevitably choose those of his own country. Herodotus further asserted that everyone believes his own nativ
Faith in Focus
Parenthood and the Attributes of God
There are some things that you never forget. For me, it happened after a long day of school. I welcomed the peace and quiet of home, never realizing how ironic that sentiment soon would be. Shortly after arriving, I settled into the couch and snuggled under the increasingly warm blanket for what I t
The Healing Touch
In the oppressive heat of the midday sun, the nun in full habit held two heavy shovels. She walked just behind the gravediggers, who tried to carry with some dignity a lifeless body wrapped in old hospital bedsheets. We had arrived here in India just a few weeks before this burial.
Books
Why Was He Crucified?
With this accessible yet critically responsible examination Paula Fredriksen the Aurelio Professor of Scripture at Boston University has made a significant contribution to the continuing debate concerning the historical Jesus Right from the start her book rsquo s several virtues ought gladly to
Renewing the Earth
As an 11-year-old boy Thomas Berry probing the red hills of his home in North Carolina skipped across a creek and found himself in a meadow Seeing the white lilies cresting above the dense grass he listened to the crickets rsquo song drift toward the distant woods and the wisps of cloud in the
The Art of Holiness
The past as one historian aptly put it has become a quot foreign country quot This is true even of our own Christian past Though much has remained the same much has at the same time changed in the landscape of our faith rendering the Christianity of the past a quot foreign country quot to
The Word
A Living God Present in Spirit and Power
The readings offer directions for proclaiming the presence of the Spirit in the church.
Most Holy Trinity
The Trinity presents a series of paradoxes. It is the central mystery of Christian faith, yet its power in Christian life gets lost amid a tangle of theological distinctions and philosophical speculation.
Columns
Stem Cell Secrets
If you have seen news articles or television reports on stem cells and the ethical puzzles they present, you may wonder what all the fuss is about. There are at least two things you can be sure of: There will be more wonder, and there will be more fuss. The wonder is related to their…
Faith
The Healing Touch
In the oppressive heat of the midday sun, the nun in full habit held two heavy shovels. She walked just behind the gravediggers, who tried to carry with some dignity a lifeless body wrapped in old hospital bedsheets. We had arrived here in India just a few weeks before this burial.
A Living God Present in Spirit and Power
The readings offer directions for proclaiming the presence of the Spirit in the church.
Most Holy Trinity
The Trinity presents a series of paradoxes. It is the central mystery of Christian faith, yet its power in Christian life gets lost amid a tangle of theological distinctions and philosophical speculation.
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