<\/p>\n
That New York Times<\/em> doozie-of-a-correction<\/a> notwithstanding, many American journalists understand exactly what Easter means for Christians.<\/p>\n That fact was evident in some of the exceptional enterprise stories that graced leading front pages on Sunday.<\/p>\n Eight of my favorites (in random order):<\/p>\n 1.<\/strong> Tim Townsend of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch<\/em> wrote about<\/a> a parish\u2019s ministry to the poor resonating on Easter:<\/p>\n Easter is the oldest and most important Christian celebration. It marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion. But more symbolically, Easter represents for Christians a procession \u2014 through Christ\u2019s crucifixion and resurrection \u2014 from death to new life.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are also celebrating our own resurrection,\u201d said the Rev. Bruce Forman, Sts. Peter and Paul\u2019s pastor since 1990. \u201cIn our lives, we have smaller deaths and resurrections. We die to selfishness, anger and resentment. And when we overcome those things, we discover that something new happens.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 2.<\/strong> Tim Funk of the Charlotte Observer<\/em> shared the emotional story<\/a> of a liver transplant bringing new life:<\/p>\n DAVIDSON<\/strong> \u2014 On this Sunday morning, when more than a billion Christians celebrate Jesus\u2019 resurrection from the dead, Easter\u2019s promise of new life will have special meaning for the Rev. Lib McGregor Simmons and her 1,400-member congregation as they march into the sanctuary singing \u201cJesus Christ is Risen Today.\u201d<\/p>\n For Simmons, the bleakest moment of the year came on Jan. 20, as she conducted the funeral for a 97-year-old member of her flock at Davidson College Presbyterian Church.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very likely,\u201d she told herself during the service, \u201cthat my husband\u2019s funeral will be the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n Gary Simmons was only 63. But unless he got a new liver soon, he had only months, maybe weeks, to live.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 3.<\/strong> Renee Elder of the Raleigh News and Observer<\/em> focused on the rebirth<\/a> of faith and hope for one family:<\/p>\n CLAYTON<\/strong> \u2014 As Christians gather to observe Easter and the resurrection of Christ, the Blackmon family of Clayton has another rebirth to celebrate: their baby daughter Sofie\u2019s second chance at life.<\/p>\n During Sunday morning services, parents Melissa and Brent Blackmon will speak at the Church at Clayton Crossings, giving thanks for the congregation\u2019s many prayers and gestures of support through Sofie\u2019s ordeal. They also will tell their own story of faith and how it grew \u2013 even as hope seemed dim for the life of their youngest child.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 4.<\/strong> Mary Niederberger of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<\/em> highlighted an agreement<\/a> between Episcopalians and Anglicans to allow a homeless ministry to continue:<\/p>\n When Leonard Williams attends the Easter service today at Shepherd\u2019s\u00a0Heart Fellowship, an Anglican church for the homeless in Uptown, like\u00a0Christians everywhere he will be celebrating the resurrection of\u00a0Christ from the tomb.<\/p>\n But Mr. Williams, 53, and others who attend Shepherd\u2019s Heart also will\u00a0be celebrating the new life that has been breathed into their church\u00a0after a recent significant agreement between Pittsburgh\u2019s Episcopal\u00a0and Anglican dioceses. A long-running conflict in the Episcopal\u00a0Diocese of Pittsburgh resulted in a 2008 split, with many of the\u00a0churches leaving and creating the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh,linked to the theologically conservative Anglican Church in North\u00a0America.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/p>\n 5.<\/strong> Jonathan Pitts of the Baltimore Sun<\/em> reported on a born-again<\/a> Baltimore basilica:<\/p>\n On Aug, 24, 2011, the earthquake that jolted the East Coast from\u00a0Georgia to Quebec rattled through the bricks, plaster and paint of one\u00a0of Baltimore\u2019s architectural jewels, the Basilica of the Assumption,\u00a0sending nearly 1,000 linear feet of cracks through its ceilings and\u00a0walls.<\/p>\n On Sunday, as Christians worldwide commemorate the resurrection of\u00a0Christ on Easter, the 207-year-old cathedral, too, will enjoy a\u00a0rebirth.<\/p>\n Construction workers have put the finishing touches on a seven-month,\u00a0$3 million restoration job, and Sunday morning\u2019s Mass will mark the\u00a0formal reopening.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 6.<\/strong> Mike Kilen of the Des Moines Register<\/em> produced a special feature headlined \u201cAfter Ezra: An Easter story.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0A snippet from that story:<\/p>\n The whole reason for our faith, Ryan Galloway said, is that Jesus\u00a0Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead. Now, he could hold\u00a0his son and smile because of that faith. It meant he could see his son\u00a0again someday.<\/p>\n They could tell Ezra then that he gave them so much, which they were\u00a0about to learn.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 7.<\/strong> Robert King of the Indianapolis Star<\/em> endeavored to explore<\/a> what church buildings themselves say about their worshipers:<\/p>\n Today, in churches across Central Indiana, the story of the Christian faith will be retold, with crowds filling them like no other day of the year.<\/p>\n For many, the Church, with a capital C, is not a building but the body of believers. But it\u2019s also clear that the space the Church inhabits reflects its members, their history and their audience. And in many cases, the space helps teach the lesson.<\/p>\n From the storefront to the megachurch, the Gothic-influenced to the modernists, Indianapolis holds it own with larger American cities when it comes to styles and varieties of churches, said James Divita, a retired Marian University professor who has studied local churches.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n 8.<\/strong> Manya A. Brachear of the Chicago Tribune<\/em> went all the way to Italy to tell the story<\/a> of a priest whose faith in church was resurrected (OK, maybe there was that other story<\/a> there too):<\/p>\n ASSISI, Italy<\/strong> \u2014\u00a0One day last September, the Rev. Frank Latzko, pastor of St. Teresa of\u00a0Avila Roman Catholic Church in Chicago, decided to take a walk and\u00a0rediscover why he became a priest.<\/p>\n His feet carried him from the Lincoln Park neighborhood to France,\u00a0across the Pyrenees mountains, into Spain and eventually to Italy,\u00a0where he stood in St. Peter\u2019s Square to witness the historic debut of\u00a0Pope Francis \u2014 the first pope to take that name.<\/p>\n But Latzko\u2019s journey still wasn\u2019t complete. Last week, he ambled\u00a0through Assisi, Italy, the medieval mountain village that eight\u00a0centuries ago was home to the namesake of both Latzko and the pope.\u00a0\u00a0There, Latzko breathlessly climbed the same steep hills and meditated\u00a0along the same wooded and walled paths where St. Francis once\u00a0strolled.<\/p>\n This Easter, he will celebrate one last Sunday Mass in Rome before\u00a0heading home to Chicago with his love for Jesus strengthened, his\u00a0passion for the priesthood renewed and his faith in the church\u00a0resurrected. This week, he returns to Chicago to transform his\u00a0contemplation into action. As Pope Francis calls on all Catholics to\u00a0remember those on the margins, Latzko and his congregation at St.\u00a0Teresa intend to answer.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n See that? All hope is not lost in the nation\u2019s newspapers. But by all means, feel free to nitpick any of the above stories.<\/p>\n Question for readers: How did your local paper handle Easter? Was there a front-page story tied to the holiday? If so, did it GET religion or not? Please provide links if possible<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" That New York Times doozie-of-a-correction notwithstanding, many American journalists understand exactly what Easter means for Christians. That fact was evident in some of the exceptional enterprise stories that graced leading front pages on Sunday. Eight of my favorites (in random order): 1. Tim Townsend of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote about a parish\u2019s ministry to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":597,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,27,6,12],"tags":[1253,326,1302,1300,1301],"class_list":["post-103277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholicism","category-evangelicals","category-godbeat","category-religion","tag-easter","tag-new-york-times","tag-newspaper-corrections","tag-regional-newspapers","tag-resurrection"],"yoast_head":"\n