Commentaries
Seeing the church in America through Hispanic Catholic eyes
If you want evidence of how U.S. Catholicism and the Hispanic experience go hand in hand, Hosffman Ospino suggests looking around at the faces of young Latino Catholics in so many parishes across the country.
Homicides take the heart out of us, but education remains the key
Father Eugene Hemrick bemoans the many killings in his home city of Chicago. We should promote peace and peacemakers in our schools, he argues, and we should teach prayer as a way of appreciating the Giver of Life.
How to repair relationships after damage of addiction
The founder of an addictions recovery organization offers four essential tips to salvaging relationships torn by people living with addiction. It's a serious beast, but with guidance and patience, peace may be found.
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.