Commentaries
Sitting down for what she stands for
It was a breezy October day when Norma Fleisher settled her 86-year-old body into a foldout camp chair on a Nebraska street corner in front of the state Capitol, with the governor's mansion directly at her back. Norma's been doing this every Monday from noon to 1 p.m. for 13 years, holding signs with a group of activists to protest Nebraska's death penalty. Through snow, heat, humidity and the Great Plains' punishing winds, Norma has been faithful to her belief that "it's ridiculous to kill people to prove killing is wrong."
Peace through the strength of a loving heart
Fear suddenly gripped me as I viewed Washington, D.C.'s National Archives exhibit on the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. I lived through it but never realized that planes carrying nuclear bombs were airborne, and our submarines and silos were prepared to launch nuclear warheads. It led me to think, “How can a nuclear holocaust be avoided?”
Eradicating child marriage today
When I was growing up in Hong Kong, I listened with amazement to the stories about girls who were married off when they were hardly 12 years old. I was relieved that such an old-fashioned practice had vanished. Cramming for exams didn't seem so bad after all. Unfortunately, I was wrong.
Splitting the Catholic vote
The findings of a national study on the relation of faith and political views appear innocuous on the surface. But a drawback to such surveys is that they advance the idea of splitting that which is inseparable, often found useful to those in politics who want to split the Catholic vote to achieve their ends.
The crucial importance of the Catholic high school
If I ruled the world of Catholic education from kindergarten through graduate studies, and if I were pushed up against a wall of choice and told I could have only four years under explicitly Catholic auspices, I would without hesitation take the high school years. I'm convinced that the potential for a positive educational impact is greater in the secondary school years than in any other four-year block of time allocated to the formal educational process. Every year from K through the Ph.D. is important, but there is something special about those years between elementary school and college. Why?
After Sandy: Patience, hope and the work of the church
What we have seen and experienced in the last two weeks has been mind-numbing. Since we have weathered many hurricanes in the past, it is hard to believe that such a storm could create such havoc in our communities as Sandy did. The power may have been pulled, but the church has never stood stronger as when one person reached out across the street and brought his brother or sister to shelter. This is the work of the church of Jesus at its best.
Roses bloom in November, in the form of modern-day miracle workers
"Mooommm…” I cried. “Peter escaped from his cage! Can you help me find him?” Peter was my golden-haired, fluffy hamster − my first real pet. Peter was lovable, adorable and so very clever. Peter’s attempts at freedom were a semi-regular occurrence, so there I was once again, sitting on the basement steps with head in my hands — crying — at the impending reality that Peter was gone forever. “Oh Missy,” my mom would say, “it will be OK. Say a prayer to St. Anthony. He will help us find him.” St. Anthony, St. Anthony, please come around. Something is lost and can’t be found.
Archbishop Chaput on the politics of secularism
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput talks about the need to defend religious freedom and how religious points of view have a place in the public square.
Nothing to be thankful for? Think again
Whether you live with the extreme pressures of daily life or your daily stressors are compounded by illness and pain, as Thanksgiving nears it might be difficult to feel truly thankful. Yes, lifting up thanks for family, friends, a place to live and food to eat are the obvious. But that deep, resonant, soul-inspiring sense of gratitude that springs from a well of comfort and joy may seem far away, if not unreachable. And yet, despite everything, when I truly look at the year that has passed, I can say that I am very thankful.
What’s wrong with our election process?
Without exception, everyone I've spoken to about the presidential race has said, "I can't wait until it's over." They weren't looking forward to the next elected president taking office; rather, they were fed up. One woman told me, "We've been over saturated with commercials and have indigestion!" Another man said, "The negative atmosphere has poisoned us." Another bemoaned, "We've lost our sense of values, especially civility." And then there was the observation: "All we heard was 'you said that and I say this.'"