Of Many Things
‘Only God can make a tree’: The Catholic behind the famous Arbor Day poem
It might interest you to know that at least three of the 12 people who have rest areas named after them on the New Jersey Turnpike have some historical association with this magazine.
Your Take
Who has the most influential moral voice in the United States today? Our readers told us.
“People listen to those who are talking the talk and walking the walk. You become influential when you relentlessly and unwaveringly pursue what’s right.”
The Letters
Faith is open engagement with the mysterium. It is a form of active humility and has nothing to do with believing the “right” things, let alone opposing those who believe the “wrong” things.
Editorials
Welcoming the stranger means welcoming new housing
Escalating rents and home prices have created invisible walls around communities all over the United States.
More violence should not be our response to atrocities in Syria
Piling violence on violence is not a strategy toward peace; it is a dangerous reflex that could just prolong the suffering.
Short Take
Guantánamo lawyer: Military tribunals are built on American apartheid
The Guantánamo tribunals create a precedent that endangers us all.
Dispatches
The clash of populations? Global Muslim numbers projected to catch up to Christians by 2060
In Europe the Christian population is dying faster than it is being replaced. In North America, the number of Christian deaths will begin to exceed the number of births to Christian parents by around 2050.
A pilgrimage for indigenous rights mobilizes faith communities in Canada
Because of their sponsorship of “Indian schools,” Christians have a unique role to play in healing the wounds of the past.
Third time might be the charm for Mexico’s leftist ‘eternal candidate’ running for president
As next year’s presidential election draws ever closer, former Mexico City mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador may be the number one candidate.
When sexual assault goes viral
What motivates assailants to brazenly post their crimes to Facebook?
Features
In the age of Trump, can Mr. Rogers help us manage our anger?
The PBS host once asked, “What do you do with the mad that you feel?” The question is as relevant as ever.
Lessons on evangelization from the largest parish in the United States
With 10,000 families and 7,000 volunteers, this megaparish has some novel challenges and opportunities.
Faith in Focus
A Sorta Catholic’s Very Catholic Wedding
Turns out, like having a kid or climbing Mount Everest or doing anything worth doing, you can’t sorta get married.
A parish priest asks: How do I respond when ICE comes for my flock?
The decisions of our government with regard to immigrants since Jan. 20 have been despicable, and support among Catholics for those decisions embarrassing.
Vantage Point
The Supreme Court, the Senate and the Filibuster
Republican senators invoking the “nuclear option” to confirm Justice Gorsuch is a new development. But contention over the court and the filibuster has a long history.
Books
Is cultural renewal possible without a culture war?
“Out of the Ashes” promises a plan for cultural renewal, but seems to skip the most difficult steps.
Was Pontius Pilate an agent of Christian salvation?
A new book situates Pilate in the political and cultural milieu of the Roman Empire in the Middle East.
St. Ignatius, the Jesuits and the pope: a close and complex history
The relationship between the Jesuits and the popes has had far-reaching consequences for the church over the centuries.
A theologian of unmatched influence
Martin E. Marty reviews “An American Conscience: The Reinhold Niebuhr Story” by Jeremy L. Sabella.
Film
The case for (and problem with) “The Case for Christ”
These movies are unlikely to convert unbelievers, because they demand a type of belief that requires unassailable evidence.
Why HBOs ‘Abortion: Stories Women Tell’ fails the women it portrays
Instead of engaging women as persons, the film instrumentalizes them to push a political agenda.
Poetry
Finding the Catholic Voices in Social Justice Poetry
Who are the literary heirs to Father Dan Berrigan?
The Word
Show Us the Father
If we model our life on Christ, not only will we be fulfilling God’s will, we will become the kind of humans God has always dreamt of.
I Will Call You Each By Name
When Jesus promises to be the gate, he promises his followers that he will protect them and provide for them always.
Last Take
Game Show Philosophy: ‘Jeopardy!’ is a show for our time; ‘Wheel of Fortune’ is from another
Rather than being a recent outcropping of American pop culture at its most vulgar, “Wheel of Fortune” is arguably our clearest survival of classical civilization.
Faith
Show Us the Father
If we model our life on Christ, not only will we be fulfilling God’s will, we will become the kind of humans God has always dreamt of.
I Will Call You Each By Name
When Jesus promises to be the gate, he promises his followers that he will protect them and provide for them always.
The clash of populations? Global Muslim numbers projected to catch up to Christians by 2060
In Europe the Christian population is dying faster than it is being replaced. In North America, the number of Christian deaths will begin to exceed the number of births to Christian parents by around 2050.
A Sorta Catholic’s Very Catholic Wedding
Turns out, like having a kid or climbing Mount Everest or doing anything worth doing, you can’t sorta get married.
Lessons on evangelization from the largest parish in the United States
With 10,000 families and 7,000 volunteers, this megaparish has some novel challenges and opportunities.
Magazine
The Letters
Faith is open engagement with the mysterium. It is a form of active humility and has nothing to do with believing the “right” things, let alone opposing those who believe the “wrong” things.
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