Opinion
Get involved, put charity into practice
Guest ColumnistA. B. HILL Caritas in Veritate, Charity in Truth, is the recent encyclical from Pope Benedict XVI. It addresses the global economic crisis by discussing the moral aspects of economics, poverty, human rights and environmental responsibility. An encyclical is a letter from the Pope that serves as a teaching document. This is Pope Benedict […]
Loving our neighbors
Guest ColumnistMsgr. James McDonough Summer … the word immediately invokes thoughts of a deep, beautiful, blue ocean with waves lapping at the shore or a serene lake with a picturesque mountain view. For Catholics, the thoughts of an ocean or lake may be reminiscent of Jesus and His disciples: “The disciples saw Jesus walking on […]
Sign of forgiveness
If we’re reading the “signs of the times” as Jesus implored (Mt. 16:1-3), we find that the signs of God’s presence in the world sometimes appear in unexpected places. Such was the case last week when football fans showed a refreshing public display of virtue toward a notorious man whom most had never met. By […]
Litany: A prayer for all seasons
Guest ColumnistMsgr. Francis X. Meehan Some weeks ago, our family lost our dear brother, Father Jim Meehan. He had been sick for quite some time – severe dementia and Parkinson’s. His funeral Masses and the kind words and prayers of so many have truly given our family a great peace. As we kept vigil with […]
Science outpaces politics on stem-cell research
A new research breakthrough was announced last month. With it comes another sign that embryonic stem cell research is a dead-end street. Stem cell research concerns itself with generating new, healthy tissue to replace damaged tissue as a result of injury (such as spinal cord trauma) or illness (Parkinson’s disease). Stem cells are called undifferentiated […]
Catholic schools and the state budget
Guest ColumnistBy A. B. HILL For most Pennsylvanians, this time of year means leisurely vacations, picnics and displays of fireworks. For some in Harrisburg, unfortunately, June and July can mean long hours, anxiety and a different kind of fireworks – the political debate about the state budget. The downturn in the economy is posing a […]
A moral framework for health care reform
Health care reform legislation is currently making its way through the United States Congress. The goal for the legislative process is a health system with universal access – health care available to every man, woman and child in America. The eventual reform plan will likely be complex and expensive, on the order of more than […]
Reduce stress: Remember life is in God’s hands
Guest ColumnistFather Leonard Peterson One fine afternoon recently I found myself absent-mindedly thinking “Ak mah DINNY job.” Those are my homemade phonetics for the name of Iran’s beleaguered president. What a strange array of syllables. What a peculiar name for Western diction to pronounce. Yet we know it well. It challenges the difficulty of King […]
Still a priest in the Year of the Priest
Guest ColumnistFather Stephen Perzan I don’t know if I’ve ever been so excited over any “It’s the Year of…” dictum from the Vatican as I am about this one, “The Year of the Priest.” Perhaps, it’s because I know that even though I am not yet an “old priest,” I’m at least an “older priest” […]
Missionaries: ‘The love in the heart of the Church’
Guest ColumnistMsgr. James McDonough The Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus reminds us every year [at this time] of the love that Jesus has for all of us. We hear again the story of the blood and water poured out from the side of Christ at His crucifixion – the price of our salvation. […]