Commentaries
Addiction has risen during the pandemic, but help is nearby
Karl Miller, a recovering alcoholic, knows how isolation and lack of stress relief have led to a rise in substance abuse in the past year. He offers resources for personal, social and spiritual support in sobriety.
In age of relative truths, we’re at each other’s throats
If each person has his or her own "truth" then nothing can be reasonably debated, writes Richard Doerflinger. He argues that Catholics who understand objective truths must engage with the culture.
500,000 dead from COVID — where’s the Catholic lament?
Laura Kelly Fanucci watched the president's memorial ceremony but saw next to nothing from the national or local church. We need rituals to mourn, and we can draw from the beauty of our tradition.
Enriching our ‘domestic church’ this Lent
A deeper reflection on the life of St. Joseph, the Holy Family and the church's teaching about marriage and family life can enrich how we live the call to discipleship in our own families.
Clergy abuse survivor embraces Lent, and God’s plan, again
As Michael McDonnell's journey in recovery moves through Lent, it is a time for him to pray for others who have suffered at the hands of their abusers in the church.
There’s new grass on the field, and hope for humanity
A man after our own heart, Jesuit Father Rick Malloy, hopes for a World Series championship for the 2021 Phillies. Baseball fans know all about Lent's call for patient endurance and the promise of salvation.
Fighting words, and lessons from a marriage
Simple yet powerful lessons from Greg Erlandson's years of marriage, and dealing with conflict, can be instructive for many of the civil disagreements we face -- including, that your wife is right.
Worsening hunger accompanies the pandemic
The economic hardships that cause a rising number of Americans to go without food reminds Moises Sandoval of the Great Depression of his youth. Those hard times have returned to his own family now.
Keep childlike joy in our greatest hope: the return of Jesus
Like Katie Prejean McGrady's little daughter awaiting the ice cream truck, we too don't know when our Lord will come again, but we pray diligently with hearts ready for the promised day.
To listen, to teach: Church journeys with humanity in year of pandemic
An American member of the Pontifical Academy for Life says its works reminds all people to discern the call of the good in uncertain times, to share in serious thinking and to speak with hope in the tenderness of God.