Commentaries

Don’t go it alone, accept help from others

Many of us believe we need to solve our own problems, otherwise we appear weak, writes Maria-Pia Negro Chin. We have a hard time asking for or accepting help, but doing so opens us to receiving mercy through human hands.

In power outage, the power of candlelight and closeness emerges

Being constantly on the go leaves no time to enjoy tranquility, writes Father Eugene Hemrick. To ensure that connection, sometimes we need to be stopped and cast into an atmosphere that encourages stillness.

Couple fretting over the future should count their blessings now

Deacon Paul and Helen McBlain write about a wife concerned with making money and her husband worrying over the time she spends working. Both should take time to thank God for what they have right now.

Line between trust and neglect arises when parents and teens talk

As Father William Byron listens to families discuss behavior issues, he rarely hears them include religion or working together on a project. An intergenerational exchange could be beneficial if someone launched it.

Morning of bitter goodbyes yields to moment of rich gratitude

When the last daughter left for college after all the other holiday house guests had departed too, Effie Caldarola said farewell to them and to the chaos. She turned to silence, to prayer, and a poem in thanks.

A world of fears is answered by an infant, for nothing is impossible for God

The fears that run through America today are not unlike those of the Holy Family: fears of migrants, fears over security, fears for employment. Improbably, the Child Jesus teaches that nothing can thwart God's desires for the world.

At Christmas, respond to God’s gifts with love, not guilt

In the joy of a little boy who loves his Christmas present, Carolyn Woo sees a parallel in the gifts God gives us, and to the delight he takes in his children. We should become more openhearted in our giving and less guilty.

Wisdom of the past opens a new perspective at Christmas

Erick Rommell considers the oldest person alive, and advises that we ask our elders about the holidays of their childhood, the traditions lost over time and how they are a connection between yesterday, tomorrow and today.

Do Catholics stand with Standing Rock?

A friend of writer Effie Caldarola stood with Native American Sioux at the scene of a proposed oil pipeline, a scene reminiscent of an earlier era: fire hoses turned on peaceful protesters. She wonders why more Catholics weren't there.

Deaf man gets treat of a lifetime, attends 1st Eagles game

Father Sean Loomis joined a faithful man, who is deaf and paralyzed, on a journey he'd only dreamed of -- seeing his Philadelphia Eagles' heroes up close for a game. It's an example of the archdiocesan Deaf Apostolate's ministry.