Commentaries
Let your (well formed) conscience be your guide
Each of us is called to form his or her conscience in light of Jesus' teachings of faith and morals, writes Father Eric Banecker in his series on Catholic moral theology.
The beatitudes’ unsettling words: Persecution
Human tragedies like the Holocaust and more subtle persecutions today all began with words such as "other" that can wreak tremendous harm. But God accompanies the persecuted.
Persecuted for the sake of justice
Persecution is not a thing of the past, writes longtime educator Tricia Hoyt. It persists overseas, in multinational corporations, the media, government and in our dioceses.
Chance remains to stop rush toward a new war
As St. John Paul II warned of war in Iraq in 2003, so Pope Francis does now in Ukraine, observes Greg Erlandson. In the world powers' drive for self-interest, war must be the last option.
How laws, natural and divine, guide us toward the good
Natural law helps us identify good things, and divine law helps us choose them. This is how the Gospel law frees us in our journey to holiness, writes Father Eric Banecker in his series on Catholic moral theology.
Today’s lessons from ancient Monte Cassino
Effie Caldarola recalls the World War II bombing raid that reduced one of the world's most important monasteries to rubble. But the Benedictine rule and a renewed cautionary tale of war remain.
U.S. Black Catholic nuns are overlooked desegregation pioneers
Shannen Dee Williams tells of the mid-20th century work of groundbreaking professor and religious, Sister Frances Millicent Douglass, and the urgency of truth-telling in schools.
Our role as peacemakers in the world
Effie Caldarola can spot peacemakers because they are listeners, people of positive attitudes, people who see a problem and try to solve it with humanity and love.
What makes a peacemaker?
Peacemaking is active, sacrificial and sacramental, which means working for justice and reconciliation often outside our comfort zone, writes Nigerian American Ogechi Akalegbere.
Clean of heart: Turning back to God
Can't find those sunglasses until you realize they're sitting on your head? Father Cassidy Stinson knows the feeling, and sees a parallel to rediscovering Jesus' gaze of mercy.