A number of years ago, I belonged to a parish that brought Communion to a local hospital each Sunday. One Sunday, as I approached one of the rooms and looked in, all I could see were white sheets covering a mound of pillows. Coming around the bed, I discovered a small, emaciated woman in a fetal pos
An anthology of poems is usually a guaranteed pleasure After all a judicious editor is spreading out his or her favorites which is bound to yield the reader a handful of authentic finds The judicious editor in this case is Peggy Rosenthal teacher and author of The Poet rsquo s Jesus Oxford Uni
Two scenes leap off the pages of Nobel prize-winning author J M Coetzee rsquo s latest novel Slow Man the in medias res opener in which protagonist Paul Rayment is accidentally knocked off his bicycle by young driver Wayne Blight and loses a leg and the penultimate scene in which the Jokic fam
It was not my first visit to Kevin Cahill M D a tropical medicine specialist based in New York but it was probably the most memorable Returning from Africa to recuperate from both hepatitis-A and food poisoning I had to be driven to his Fifth Avenue office too weak to go on my own by public t
Brokeback Mountain received one of the most enthusiastic receptions of any film released this past year. The pony had scarcely left the barn before reviewers filled its saddlebags with potential Oscars. They seemed almost afraid to corral their enthusiasm. Why should such a competent but really quit
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent a period of 40 days of prayer and penance which reaches its climax and goal in the solemn celebrations of Jesus rsquo death and resurrection in Holy Week One of the traditional Lenten observances is fasting During Lent Catholics are asked to abstain fro
Bush’s Health Care Plan Seen as InadequatePresident George W. Bush’s plan to expand health insurance coverage through health savings accounts, outlined in his State of the Union address on Jan. 31, is of no value to low-income populations, the head of the Catholic Health Association said