Muldoon and Coffey Honored by CPA

Well, bust my buttons!

It seems that while passing out awards recently, the Catholic Press Association singled out two of our Catholic Portal columnists for distinction:

Congrats to Boston College’s Tim Muldoon, who runs his own page, here and also toils weekly at Culture in the Crossroads, where his recent series on Sex and Christianity has been a popular feature.

Of his book, Love One Another, co-edited with Cynthia S. Dobrzynski and honored with a third place prize in the book category “Family Life”, the CPA says:

“The essays in this book offer a hopeful look at the difficulties facing those who are married and those who are considering marriage. New ways of reflecting on the Catholic tradition provide insights to couples facing modern-day marital challenges.”

Kudos, too, to Kathy Coffey of Catholic Being, whose essay “The Spirituality of Work” was awarded 1st Place in its category.

Don’t miss this week’s very timely entry to Catholic Being, Economic Depression; Spiritual Uplift?:

Beyond the financial insecurity, jobs define us: our social groups, our contributions to society, our outlets for creativity. When these vanish, we face the demons of anger and depression. We may stoutly maintain that we don’t base our identity on the job, but try taking it away. Many people contend hopelessly with humiliation and worthlessness.

The role of faith, then, is to address a gaping vacuum in peoples’ lives. Few who are experiencing the crisis want to be patted on the head or told “this too will pass.” They want desperately to believe in President Obama’s assurances that jobs will be restored. The unemployed want to take literally his confident invitation, “let’s get to work.”

Finally, let’s extend a bit of recognition to busy Deacon Greg Kandra, who not only runs his Deacon’s Bench blog from here, and the column All Things New, but also serves as Executive Editor of ONE, the acclaimed magazine published by the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA). . This very fine journal was honored with numerous awards:

ONE and editor Christopher Boland received First Place for Individual Excellence in Writing/Editing. The CPA also honored graphics designer Daria Erdosy with First Place for Individual Excellence in Photography/Art, and Digital Multimedia Editor Erin Edwards with multiple awards for Multi-Media Presentation. The magazine won Second Place for General Excellence, Mission Magazines.

In their praise, the CPA judges noted,

“These are untold stories, rich with the sort of confluence of religion, history, culture and nationalism that reveal true complexity. The writing pulls from multiple sources in ways that allow us to feel as if we’re not seeing a single tile in a great mosaic, but the entire mosaic itself. These are a triumph of scope and sound editorial decision-making. And I found myself surprised by the stories told in every piece.”

As a subscriber, I heartily concur!

Congratulations to all! Patheos is proud to be associated with such fine and faithful minds, and I feel personally privileged to work with them.