Our National Sins?
Back in the 17th century, the Anglican priest-poet George Herbert maintained that the national sin of his day was idleness. Whether that was an accurate portrayal we must leave to historians and sociologists. But Herbert had no qualms in proposing that there was sin—one of a national kind.This
Walking With Susie and Virginia
From the beginning, it has been hard for me to understand. It’s odd. I have always been ferociously anti-guru. If I sense the slightest odor of charisma, I run for cover. Fortunately, I came to discover that Virginia, a spiritual director in the Ignatian tradition, disliked being called a teac
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
In mid-November, I took the bus down to Washington to sit in on the fall meeting of the U.S. bishops – partly because they were to vote on their pastoral statement regarding the need to re-vamp our draconian criminal justice system, an issue I follow for America. The meeting spanned four days, and o
Letters
Letters
What Can Be
I found the column Of Many Things by James Martin, S.J., (1/8) on the role of women religious in the church both inspiring and insightfulright up to his final sentence. After two columns detailing women’s leadership activity in the church today, why would he write that the church does not allow women to…
Editorials
Heat Waves Ahead
‘From the beginning,” said Pope John Paul II at his weekly general audience on Jan. 17, “God intended man to be the steward of creation and to live in harmony with his Creator, his fellow human beings and the created world…. There is an urgent need for ‘ecological conversio
Faith in Focus
A Change of Heart
I spotted the woman the moment I walked into the hospital lobby. Shaking and sobbing uncontrollably, she was talking to someone on the phone. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, yet I felt a strong urge to comfort her. But something stopped me. She’s a stranger, I reminded myself, and i
Books
Connecting With the Gospel Drama
Following up on his well-received first book Eyes on Jesus Michael Kennedy a Jesuit priest presents the prayerful reader with another set of poetic Ignatian meditations These Gospel dramas rsquo speak to the heart and engage the mind by kindling the imagination and inflaming the affect The pa
Three in One
In June 1994 in an Italian restaurant in Baltimore Michael Downey met with his friend and colleague Catherine Mowry LaCugna a professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame Together over linguini and Lonergan they hatched a plot Lamenting the notoriously dense and complex language sur
The Making of a Jesuit
I have made quite a study of conversion stories and far from becoming jaded I seem to find each one is a surprise Everyone has an angle God rsquo s angle is also unpredictable Even though the happy ending is more or less assured there are always twists and turns along the way James Martin…
The Word
Giving the Devil His Due
The first two Sundays of Lent present the temptation and transfiguration of Jesus which form a virtual epitome of the paschal mystery Jesus taking on human form humbled himself even to death and was tested by his Father yet this was a presage of his glorification The following three Sundays in
Columns
The Family Business
Last summer, after the Republican National Convention made history by nominating the son of a former president as its standard-bearer, the writer Andrew Sullivan raised an issue that only now is beginning to make its way onto op-ed pages. How was it, Sullivan wondered, that in a supposedly meritocra
Faith
Why Young Adults Need Ignatian Spirituality
A number of articles and books over the last few years have asked: What will the church look like in 20 years? Underlying this basic concern is an awareness that today’s young Catholic adults have not, it seems, employed the models of earlier generations to appropriate the faith and lack the c
News
Signs of the Times
Two Dioceses Object to Program for April N.C.E.A. ConventionCiting objections to programming at the upcoming National Catholic Educational Association convention, officials of the dioceses of Peoria, Ill., and Pittsburgh said they will not allocate diocesan funds to pay for teachers to attend the co
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