Five Days in Kosovo
Each crisp winter morning these days, I smell the steam heat creeping through the old radiators of my Upper West Side Manhattan apartment. The hot water for my morning shower also (almost) never fails. How remarkable these little comforts are! I have a fresh appreciation for warmth because two month
CD’s Don’t Kill People…
Billy Joel once said in an interview on "60 Minutes" that he thinks of his songs as his children. He remarked that some of them go on to become doctors and lawyers (presumably the Top 40 Hits), while others grow up to be bums. I wonder if Billy believes that any of his "kids" cou
Health Care Goes Downhill in California: An Interview With Henry A. Foley
Henry A. Foley, currently chief operating officer of the Menlo Health Alliance in Menlo Park, Calif., and former director of other medical groups in the state, has also been director of Behavioral Health Services for Hawaii and a deputy director and planning chief at the National Institute of Mental
Of Many Things
Of Many Things
On the chilly afternoon of Nov. 30, I headed up Broadway bound for a party, the celebration of Commonweal magazine’s 75th anniversary. Arriving at Fordham-Lincoln Center’s McNally Amphitheater, I plunked myself down next to Bob Hoyt, Commonweal’s "senior writer," and Denn
Letters
Letters
Time Has Come
Congratulations on the issue that focused on women in the church (11/27). The contributors provided an excellent overview of both the contributions of women to the life of the church and an exploration of issues that remain unresolved. It was interesting to read in the editorial your comment that the…
Editorials
The Third Millennium
"Any day is a good day to be born and any day is a good day to die," said Pope John XXIII toward the end of his life. He was affirming that within the perspective of eternity every day is significant, and for each individual any day may be momentous. He was not denying that…
Faith in Focus
A Doll for an Old Woman
CABBAGE PATCH dolls were all the rage some years ago. My husband fell in with the crowd and bought several for my daughter, Christina, when she was little. I watched her play with them. She dressed them in old baby clothes that I still had, and carried them tenderly everywhere for weeks. Somewhere along the…
Books
Poet on the Edge
When the poet Hart Crane jumped from a ship to his death in the waters of the Caribbean on an April morning in 1932 alarmed crewmembers threw life preservers into the water after him Their rescue effort was not only futile but also ironic since Crane rsquo s father had invented the Life Saver can
‘Third Great Awakening’
Eugene Taylor is a clinical psychologist lecturer at Harvard Medical School and senior psychologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital He has previously written on William James and consciousness as well as spiritual healing and has been involved in a variety of oriental cult groups He brings
Onkel Alf
Brave novelist Ron Hansen In Mariette in Ecstasy 1991 he entered the mind of a contemplative nun with bleeding stigmata In Atticus 1996 he looked into the paternal love of a 67-year-old Colorado cattleman pursuing his estranged son in Mexico Now in Hitler rsquo s Niece he takes on the young
Film
Playing God, Bring Out the Dead: Bringing Out the Dead
In the beginning, Scorsese said "Let there be light," but he preferred the darkness. He created the heavens and the earth but, like Milton, found hell far more interesting. And so it came to pass that in one brilliant film after another over a 30-year artistic career, Martin Scorsese has s
The Word
Heavenly Voice, Earthly Mission
The feast of the Baptism of the Lord concludes the Advent-Christmas liturgical season and is also the first Sunday in Ordinary Time In the early church it was closely linked to Epiphany as a quot manifestation quot of the Son of God This first appearance of Jesus is marked by the solemn biblica
Seek and You Shall Be Found
The liturgical year involves the festal cycle comprising Advent-Christmas and Lent-Paschaltide and ordinary time which is the weekly celebration of the extraordinary event of the proclamation of the word and the eucharistic paschal mystery After the Baptism of the Lord the readings of the second
Columns
Life in the 90’s
There are times, I must confess, when I am tempted to indulge in a bit of merriment at the expense of those who have presided over our high-tech revolution. They are smart, no doubt about it, but how could they not have anticipated the Y2K bug? We liberal arts types, we who speak a language…
News
Signs of the Times
Cuban Bishops Say Parental Rights Should Decide Boy’s CaseThe Cuban Catholic bishops say the custody battle over a 6-year-old Cuban boy should be resolved in favor of parental rights. The boy, Elian Gonzalez, has been living with relatives in Florida since he survived an attempt to reach the U
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts