Opinion
The ‘realness’ of Easter:
Breaking through cultural walls
Guest ColumnistBy Msgr. Francis X. Meehan The Gospels of the Easter season are bracing. They are so real, so bodily. No wonder we sing, “Jesus is truly risen!” Catch the realness of the Gospels: Jesus comes through locked doors, breathes on the disciples, invites Thomas to place his hands in the wounds, prepares breakfast on […]
Who cares? Catholic Charities answers: We care
No one, not even one who is affluent, is unaffected by the current economic downturn. It continues to threaten jobs and the economic security of millions of families in America. Thankfully, some tantalizing glimpses of light are beginning to appear at the end of the tunnel, even though experts are unsure when the economic picture […]
Protecting marriage in Pa.
By A. B. HILL Although nearly 70 percent of Pennsylvanians support an amendment to Pennsylvania’s Constitution defining marriage as the union between one man and one woman, many are asking tough questions about the issue. Amending the state constitution to protect marriage is not unique to Pennsylvania. Twenty-seven states have already passed marriage protection amendments […]
While we’re waiting
The wise admonition to “wait and see” concludes Lou Baldwin’s article this week about Catholic demographic trends, part of this newspaper’s special report on parish life in Philadelphia and its suburbs. The various articles – with more on our web site at cst-phl.com – tell a lot about the character of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia […]
Remember the poor during this economic downturn
Guest ColumnistBy A. B. Hill “Feed people dying of hunger, because if you do not feed them you are killing them.” Strong words from our Church fathers. They teach that we are bound to come to the aid of the poor and to do so not merely out of our superfluous goods (see Gaudium et […]
We all have a voice
Baseball fan or not, anyone living in this region knows the golden-toned voice of Philadelphia Phillies announcer Harry Kalas, who died suddenly this week preparing to broadcast another Phillies game. He was doing what he loved – using his gifts and experience to lighten the lives of millions of listeners as he’d done here since […]
Trust in spanine Mercy
A week after the Church’s most solemn and most ancient Easter celebration comes the relatively new spanine Mercy Sunday. In the Church’s two-millennia view, a devotion arising in about the past half-century is new. Nonetheless, the devotion has begun to flower in popularity in recent years. The concept of God’s mercy is nothing new. The […]
The heart and soul of the body
I am not Catholic. I am Protestant, which was something that felt a little strange when I lived in Ireland as a middle-school student in the mid-1990s. In some ways, I have felt what it’s like to be a minority; not only did I go to a different church than everyone, but being American, I […]
Quiet: Remembering Good Friday in Kensington
Many years ago when I was in grade school, the time “12 to 3” had a very profound meaning on Good Friday. This is the time that Jesus, Our Saviour, hung on the cross and died for our sins. The morning of Good Friday was very different in our neighborhood of Kensington; it was especially […]
The stubbornness of human error
Guest ColumnistFather Leonard Peterson The “February flap,” if you will, about that ultra-traditional bishop Richard Williamson who denies the Holocaust continues to haunt us. A basic admission in this case is obvious: ordination, even to the episcopacy, does not preclude lunacy. History bears witness to that as well. But, as we conclude our Lent, the […]