When Jesus rescued the adulterous woman from an angry mob intent on stoning her to death, he was very quiet about it. He wrote something on the ground — perhaps the sins of the men with the stones? Words in which they might recognize themselves and their own sins and offenses? “But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone... Read more
“Your birth, O Virgin Mother of God, proclaims joy to the whole world, for from you arose the glorious Sun of Justice, Christ our God; he freed us from the age-old curse and filled us with holiness; he destroyed death and gave us eternal life.” – Antiphon for the Canticle of Zechariah, Morning Prayer for Sept. 8 I was struck this morning at mass by the Gospel reading, which was the genealogy and Annunciation from Matthew. The whole list of... Read more
At the news, late yesterday, that the cause for sainthood for Venerable Bishop Fulton J. Sheen had been suspended, there was some understandable confusion and sadness. Some predictable high-drama and Catholic angst got flung around the web, too, as it seemed like — given the available information — Peoria’s Bishop Daniel R. Jenky of Peoria (“actor” of the cause and President of the Sheen Foundation) and New York’s Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan were having a tug of war with the... Read more
Minutes ago, Joseph Zwilling, Director of Communications for the Archdiocese of New York, released the following statement today on behalf of the archdiocese, in an attempt to clarify certain questions concerning the cause of Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. “The Archdiocese of New York joins Bishop Daniel Jenky of the Diocese of Peoria in his invitation to prayer that “God’s will be made manifest” concerning the cause for sainthood of Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. People have approached us for... Read more
So, ISIS has beheaded a second US Journalist, and I am marveling at how much less attention is being paid to the grisly and unjust murder of Steven J. Sotloff. James Foley’s murder shocked the nation, and in the midst of our insta-read-insta-forget culture of news absorption, his story survived a week’s worth of news cycles, which is remarkable when you consider how quickly we consign stories to the memory hole and move on to the next big thing. Ebola?... Read more
Very likely due to being ill for nearly four months, I’m in a bit of a work-and-spiritual funk just now. I’ve got the blues and am hauling out all the usual prescriptions to try to help myself along. I want to “snap out of it” because I know that I have no business feeling glum; my life is too full of good things, for which — when my head is on straight — I am everyday grateful. My husband and... Read more
For days I avoided the story, as I know many others have. Coming on the heels of the atrocities of the Islamic State, the take-over of Mosul (now a holding camp for kidnapped Yazidi “brides”) the purging of the Iraqi Christians from their ancient lands and the pursuit of genocide — the disheartening knowledge that, despite the official pivot away by our government, there are still thousands on Mount Sinjar who will not be rescued, because they are very old,... Read more
This impressive both technologically and musically. With a few exceptions among apostolic communities — and of course, the Third Order laity — when you think Carmelite, you think enclosure; you think grilles; you think of interior castles and humble cells. And yet, thanks to the wonders of digital recording and the internet, we can listen to a virtual choir of Carmelite women, singing — and wonderously — a new piece of music set to the most famous prayer of the... Read more
America is not happy. However it might look on paper, in reality we are not getting along. We are e pluribus unum, no more. I wrote that, and later struck it as being too harsh, for my latest column at First Things, which was written after an evening’s troubling conversation with an African American friend who is feeling done with everything and everyone. The militarized police in Ferguson so strained his basket of disciplined goodwill that I suspect one more... Read more
A great deal has been written about the late James Foley, his beheading at the hands of a barbarous Islamic State: the moving response from this band of Syrians, the Jesuit education which, along with the example of his family kept him grounded in his faith; his own words on the power of prayer, written in previous captivity. The story is tragic and infuriating — every bit as nation-stirring as the similar murder of Daniel Pearl, all those years ago,... Read more
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