Commentaries
Flood of bad news forces a choice to run away or confront it
Father Eugene Hemrick[/caption] To say the least, the news is anything but comforting. Take, for example, news about the Boston bombing, the kidnapping of three girls who were enslaved for a decade, thousands killed in Syria and hundreds of thousands more now refugees, horrendous forest fires, first-time snows in May and a multitude of services being cut because of the sequester. If we listed all of our present woes, they would fill a voluminous book
In Syria, prayer and aid needed more than arms
The Syrian conflict already responsible for a reported 80,000 deaths since March 2011 is now even more dire. Shiite fighters from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah are becoming more active on the side of President Bashar Assad. Refugees continue to flee their homes for the overcrowded havens of Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. More than 4 million Syrians are displaced within the country and nearly 7 million are in need of humanitarian assistance.
Sen. Toomey missed chance to link Catholic teaching, economics in Villanova talk
As an economics major, I was intrigued that Senator Patrick Toomey’s address was essentially a treatise on laissez-faire economics. He promoted a significant faith in unbridled capitalism, though it was of a type that lacks any measurement of its ability to protect and promote human dignity. Capitalism must be judged carefully when, according the World Bank, one out of every three deaths worldwide is related to poverty.
Confronting cruelty in children
Character development and the cultivation of empathy are key components in any strategy to confront cruelty in children. The topic of bullying has been in the headlines on and off for many years. A fine book by Emily Bazelon, "Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy," caught the attention of prominent reviewers and provides a balanced picture for the consideration of parents and educators who are understandably concerned.
The church can be a means to meet expectations
Can a church that measures time by 40 days of Lent, 50 days of Easter and four Sundays of Advent appeal to a generation that has little regard for tradition and institutions? Will religion, as the visible institution of faith, be able to affect the trend or will the trend affect the church? These questions are provoked by a lengthy article in a recent Time magazine profiling "the millennials" -- the latest generation to capture the interest of sociologists and marketers.
Go with your initial gut instinct when it comes to good deeds
We were backing out of the garage, the car lights briefly illuminating the darkened walls and floor. "Mom," cried my 3-year-old daughter, strapped into her car seat behind me. "I just saw a mouse." We lived in Alaska, in a house with plenty of cracks and nooks. Almost every year, we'd catch one mouse. Elizabeth was an astute little observer of life, and I trusted her eyesight. She was probably right, but then she added something funny. "Or maybe it was fish," she said hesitantly of the silvery creature she'd seen darting beyond the headlights.
Taking the fear out of medical care
"I just don't want to know," someone said to me recently, of not wanting to see her doctor about an ongoing symptom. The remark was not an isolated incident. A certain fear seems to be building up among people in many corners of society, a fear that is difficult to quantify yet expressed in sometimes oblique, sometimes direct ways. It is the fear of becoming sick, and no wonder.
Looking forward to a life of graduations
Graduation is supposed to be an ending, a sign of achievement and a time of celebration. It's the culmination of your life so far, a moment to mark what you've achieved and a time to look back on treasured memories. This year, though, graduation may not feel like the party it has been in the past. If you've graduated this year or are looking forward to it, you may feel a little scared about what comes next.
Doylestown man reflects on his week visiting, living with Pope Francis in Rome
Never would I think that the Holy Spirit would introduce me to Pope Francis by allowing me to stay with him at his residence for one week in Rome and to have the blessing and privilege to attend his daily 7 a.m. Mass which he celebrates at the residence chapel and even have breakfast, lunch and dinner with him each day! I had the honor to have several personal conversations with the Holy Father and what struck me each time was how sincere and genuine he is and how happy he is to see you when in his presence.
The importance of urban greening to my generation
I had never thought about urban greening. For me, nature was something I took for granted in everyday life. It was never something I really thought about. And what I did notice was that every spring I suffer from allergies and that left me with little appreciation for the wonders of greenery. Now, I realize there is much more to plants, grass and trees in the city than that.