Jesuit School Spotlight
How one Jesuit high school is fighting antisemitism through education
Xavier High School’s Holocaust studies program includes book and movie discussions, as well as opportunities for both domestic and international trips.
The Weekly Dispatch
The killing of an eco-defender in Honduras highlights a global problem of impunity
Juan López was gunned down as he was leaving Mass by a still unidentified assassin, becoming the latest casualty among defenders of creation and Indigenous and human rights in Honduras.
Of Many Things
What most needs to change at the synod? We do.
I have admittedly rolled my eyes at the language the Vatican uses around the Synod on Synodality. But it should prompt all Catholics to ask themselves: Do I know what I am really trying to say?
Your Take
What makes liturgy ‘reverent’?
Our readers weigh in on the recent discussion between Rachel Lu and Matthew Cortese, S.J. on diverse forms of reverence in the Mass.
Editorials
Pope Francis told American Catholics to vote their conscience. What did he mean?
The Editors: “Rather than a claim to know conscience’s demands for everyone, it is a challenge for voters to engage in deeper reflection, prayer and dialogue.”
Short Take
Our children are worried about guns—and it’s hurting their mental health
A Sunday school class reveals how deeply all students have been affected by mass shooting incidents and constant “active shooter drills.”
Dispatches
The other border crisis: How Mexico is enforcing migration policies ahead of the U.S. election
While the candidates jousted through the end of the election season, migrant encounters along the U.S. southwestern border continued a sharp fall in fiscal year 2024. But why?
South African bishop on ordination: No to women, yes to married men.
“If women are doing practically everything that a deacon is doing … [why] do we want to draw women into clericalism when we are having so many problems with it?”
A safe haven for displaced Christians as the war between Hezbollah and Israel intensifies
Shelters have opened in northern Lebanon to provide what everyone hopes will be a temporary lodging for the displaced Christian families from the new war zone along the border with Israel.
Features
Contemplative caretaking: What mothers like me can learn from monastic life
Is it possible to be a contemplative caretaker?
A lesson from Punxsutawney: The United States will always be divided—and that’s O.K.
With Pennsylvania widely considered the most crucial of the seven 2024 swing states and America feeling stuck in a winter of discord haunted by the specter of political violence, I decided to report on the election from Punxsutawney.
Faith and Reason
The keys to a bishop’s role in a synodal church: collaboration and compassion
Collaboration and compassion are two keys to a bishop’s role in a synod church, argues the Most Reverend W. Shawn McKnight, the bishop of Jefferson City, Mo.
A century of James Baldwin’s prophetic voice
The centennial of James Baldwin’s birth is an invitation to join the ranks of “the relatively conscious” who will help the nation engage in the metanoia needed to become the country that Baldwin constantly believed and hoped it could become.
How being vegetarian for 50 years has made me a better Catholic priest and teacher
Five decades of vegetarian diet has changed me, for the better, I think: simpler, more natural, more connected to the smaller and larger life forms around me.
Faith in Focus
How my 4-year-old taught me the true meaning of ‘good’ liturgical music
The music we hear at Mass makes a difference. Our son looks forward to church all week long, and the music is the reason why.
Trump’s lies about immigrants eating pets defiled something sacred to Catholics: a shared meal
Most of my most meaningful meals have been prepared by friends born outside of the United States and who made a courageous journey to be here.
Books
Review: The intersection of faith and mental illness
Anna Gazmarian’s ‘Devout’ is an emotional, vulnerable portrait of a woman who was failed by two institutions, both science and religion, that she rightfully believed would help her.
Review: Are we all liberal protestants?
In ‘Citizens Yet Strangers,’ Kenneth Craycraft argues that the American political order presupposes the goodness of the Fall, rather than our original created goodness.
Review: How to fix the dome of St. Peter’s?
A major takeaway from ‘Saving Michelangelo’s Dome’ is that it is a miracle any pre-modern church is still standing.
Review: A Catholic prayer for racial justice
Bolstered by extensive research and passionate prose, ‘In the Shadow of Freedom’ makes a compelling argument for Catholics in particular to pay more heed to reconciliation and healing for the racist history of the United States.
Review: Sally Rooney’s ‘Intermezzo’ is occasionally interesting, frequently frustrating and ultimately insufficient
Rooney’s novel ends up as an overlong interlude, poised between significant moments, not substantial enough to compose its own movement.
Poetry
Washing windows at the Catholic Worker
Because this house is a dandelion gone to seed. Fragile and full of possibility.
Faith
Judas Kiss
his own hands bound by his will, they offer no resistance, to those he knows will kill
How one Jesuit high school is fighting antisemitism through education
Xavier High School’s Holocaust studies program includes book and movie discussions, as well as opportunities for both domestic and international trips.
How my 4-year-old taught me the true meaning of ‘good’ liturgical music
The music we hear at Mass makes a difference. Our son looks forward to church all week long, and the music is the reason why.
The keys to a bishop’s role in a synodal church: collaboration and compassion
Collaboration and compassion are two keys to a bishop’s role in a synod church, argues the Most Reverend W. Shawn McKnight, the bishop of Jefferson City, Mo.
Contemplative caretaking: What mothers like me can learn from monastic life
Is it possible to be a contemplative caretaker?
What makes liturgy ‘reverent’?
Our readers weigh in on the recent discussion between Rachel Lu and Matthew Cortese, S.J. on diverse forms of reverence in the Mass.
What most needs to change at the synod? We do.
I have admittedly rolled my eyes at the language the Vatican uses around the Synod on Synodality. But it should prompt all Catholics to ask themselves: Do I know what I am really trying to say?
South African bishop on ordination: No to women, yes to married men.
“If women are doing practically everything that a deacon is doing … [why] do we want to draw women into clericalism when we are having so many problems with it?”
A century of James Baldwin’s prophetic voice
The centennial of James Baldwin’s birth is an invitation to join the ranks of “the relatively conscious” who will help the nation engage in the metanoia needed to become the country that Baldwin constantly believed and hoped it could become.
Trump’s lies about immigrants eating pets defiled something sacred to Catholics: a shared meal
Most of my most meaningful meals have been prepared by friends born outside of the United States and who made a courageous journey to be here.
Vatican finally approves Medjugorje devotion: visit Mary but not the visionaries
The Vatican has approved the promotion of devotion to the Virgin Mary at Medjugorje but did not make any declaration on the alleged supernatural character of the Marian apparitions there.
How being vegetarian for 50 years has made me a better Catholic priest and teacher
Five decades of vegetarian diet has changed me, for the better, I think: simpler, more natural, more connected to the smaller and larger life forms around me.
Vatican Dispatch
Vatican finally approves Medjugorje devotion: visit Mary but not the visionaries
The Vatican has approved the promotion of devotion to the Virgin Mary at Medjugorje but did not make any declaration on the alleged supernatural character of the Marian apparitions there.
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