Commentaries

Making investments that work for the poor

Carolyn Woo describes impact investing in which parishes and religious organizations not only teach a person to fish but set up boats, equipment and trucks to make fishing, and other work, real options for livelihood.

Close bond of mom and daughter squeezes out time with new husband

Deacon Paul and Helen McBlain advise in the case of a young man whose mother in law spends a lot of time with his wife, and what the couple can do to strengthen their new marriage.

American dream is slipping through the class divides

American life is at a tipping point in which young people today, unlike their predecessors, can no longer expect to earn more than their parents, writes Jesuit Father William Byron. Fewer are likely to fit into the "upper middle class."

If we want to limit abortion, don’t wait for government to do it

When it comes to transforming the culture in favor of life, we should not expect too much from government, writes seminarian Eric Banecker. Rather, we should expect what we're supposed to do ourselves.

Whether with plants or people, adoption helps growth of souls

The wisdom of adopting a house plant or tree that someone no longer wants strikes Maureen Pratt as an analogy for the adoption of a child, and the love and grace that come to an adoptive family.

Feeling insecure? You’re not the only one, as social media shows

The true power of communication in the 21st century is in how it lets people who haven't seen one another in years to share experiences and re-enter their lives in remarkable ways, writes Erick Rommel.

Instruments of peace can become corroded by divisiveness

Faced with a choice to create peace or division, young people are choosing peace by recognizing people's God-given dignity and acting accordingly, writes Maria Pia Negro Chin.

Instructing the ignorant, a work of mercy

What is truth and how can we grasp it? That's a question as old as Socrates, which John Garvey views in light of the Year of Mercy. We can find truth, he writes, because we have met the fullness of it in Jesus Christ.

What’s a ‘good’ Christian doing in a world like this?

Effie Caldarola ponders the meaning of Christian compassion at a time when hatred and even violence are visited upon homosexual people. The "elephant in the room" can't be ignored, she believes.

Statutes of Limitation retroactivity would violate Pa. constitution

Amy Hill of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference reviews a Senate hearing this week on whether allowing civil lawsuits for child sexual abuse from the past would pass constitutional muster in Pennsylvania.