Commentaries
Violence must be tolerated, not celebrated
Police and the military deserve respect, even admiration, writes columnist Steve Kent. But when admiration extends to glorification, it is time to take a step back.
St. Elizabeth’s service day a blessing for those served, and those serving
Three hundred members of the parish fanned out across Chester County last weekend in various community service projects. One included parishioner Jean Reamer's team of 14 who spruced up a Coatesville community center.
Caring for elderly parents strains a marriage, but tasks can be managed
A couple with children finds it isn’t easy to care also for aging parents, but they can be supported if the whole family works together with love and understanding, write columnists Deacon Paul and Helen McBlain.
Our need for a little more mercy
Mercy isn't a popular word today. Revenge pervades our politics, our entertainment and our own lives. A guest writer suggests two ways we can make our actions of mercy speak to the rest of society, witnessing to the compassion that our world so desperately needs.
Does modesty matter?
In a society that increasingly has no boundaries between dignity and base instinct, people of faith need to act and appear with respect for self and others, writes columnist Maureen Pratt. That's a challenge that will probably increase.
If fewer days are ahead than behind, look ahead with faith
Once we were young, healthy, with lives ahead of us, writes columnist Effie Caldarola, who now in the later third of life sees the death of friends. The now limited horizon has beauty in its temporality, each day more precious. There aren't any to squander.
An attitude of gratitude
The second eucharistic prayer of the Mass says it is "right and just ... always and everywhere" to give God thanks. And why not live in a state of thankfulness, writes Jesuit Father William Byron?
Now playing in the theater of the absurd: the death penalty
Consider if you will, asks columnist Steve Kent, some recent bizarre examples of how the death penalty is applied by several states.
The benefits of a first job yield more than extra cash
Columnist Karen Osborne's first jobs as a teenager may have been gross at times, but she learned a lot. Standing behind a cash register even made her a better person.
Care for the immigrant, fix the broken system
Father Gus Puleo sees the link between Pope Francis’ visit to a Mediterranean immigration port last year and yesterday’s Mass at an Arizona border crossing. Both events underscore the moral duty to avoid indifference to human suffering, and for just immigration reform.