Last updated on: February 2, 2007 at 5:49 pm By Cathleen Falsani

GODSTUFF: SPIRITED GAME LETS YOU RISE TO POPEDOM The blue baseball cap with a white “P” sat on the table near the six plastic cardinals queued up at the starting square in a corner of the game board. “That’s the pope hat,” declared Carmen Nanko-Fernandez, a professor of pastoral ministry at Catholic Theological Union in Hyde Park. “See?” she said, popping the cap on her head and grinning, “Call me Pope Carmen the First.” Nanko-Fernandez and four of her colleagues... Read more

Last updated on: February 1, 2007 at 3:58 am By Cathleen Falsani

GODSPEED, MOLLY IVINS1944-2007 Journalist. Author. Pundit. Texan. Funny lady. Dyed-in-the-wool, unapologetic liberal. “There’s nothing you can do about being born liberal — fish gotta swim and hearts gotta bleed.” God bless, Molly. Rest in peace. Read more

GODSTUFF: Is He Or Isn’t He? Obama’s Evangelical Question

Last updated on: January 19, 2007 at 4:08 pm By Cathleen Falsani

"Are you an evangelical?" Surrounded by members of the editorial board, editors, our publisher, and a couple of his own aides, this was Obama's answer: "Gosh, I'm not sure if labels are helpful here because the definition of an evangelical is so loose and subject to so many different interpretations,” the senator said. “I came to Christianity through the black church tradition where the line between evangelical and non-evangelical is completely blurred. Nobody knows exactly what it means. "Does it mean that you feel you've got a personal relationship with Christ the savior? Then that's directly part of the black church experience. Does it mean you're born-again in a classic sense, with all the accoutrements that go along with that, as it's understood by some other tradition? I'm not sure." Read more

Last updated on: January 19, 2007 at 4:30 am By Cathleen Falsani

CAT’S EYE VIEW What is it that you express in your eyes? It seems to me more than all the words I have ever read.— Walt Whitman Read more

Last updated on: January 12, 2007 at 2:14 pm By Cathleen Falsani

GODSTUFF: FAITH, DOUBT AND FAIRYGODMOTHERS Cinderella: It’s just no use. I can’t believe. Not anymore. There’s nothing left to believe in. Fairy Godmother: Nothing, my dear? Oh, now you really don’t mean that. Cinderella: Oh, but I do . . . Fairy Godmother: Nonsense, child. If you’d lost all your faith, I couldn’t be here. And here I am. • • • • What do you do when you’re not sure? Playwright John Patrick Shanley begins his play “Doubt” with... Read more

Last updated on: January 9, 2007 at 4:55 am By Cathleen Falsani

IS IT ME, OR DID WE JUST BOMB SOMALIA, TOO? SEE ALSO: WARS/RUMORS OF WAR; PESTILENCE; CALAMITY As of 10:50 p.m. here in Chicago, CNN and others are reporting that US aircraft fired on “Al Qeda targets” within Somalia. Heres the story from CNN.com: WASHINGTON (CNN) — A U.S. gunship attacked suspected al Qaeda targets in southern Somalia, a senior Pentagon official said Monday. The AC-130 flew its mission within the last 24 hours, the official told CNN. The operation... Read more

Last updated on: January 5, 2007 at 3:55 pm By Cathleen Falsani

GODSTUFF: THE END OF THE WORLD IS COMING . . . WELL, EVENTUALLY If poll results released this week are accurate, a quarter of you think it’s at least somewhat likely that Jesus Christ will return to Earth this year. The same Associated Press/AOL News poll showed 46 percent of white evangelical Christians, 17 percent of Roman Catholics and 10 percent of those who described themselves as “nonreligious” believe Christ’s return will occur in 2007. I happen to know a... Read more

Last updated on: January 3, 2007 at 2:29 pm By Cathleen Falsani

THE SECOND COMING AND OTHER 2007 PROGNOSTICATIONS Adelle Banks at Religion News Service has a really interesting article about a recent Associated Press/America Online poll about the second coming of Jesus Christ. She writes: Twenty-five percent of Americans believe it is at least somewhat likely that Jesus Christ will return to Earth in 2007, a new poll from the Associated Press and AOL News shows. The poll, conducted by the international polling firm Ipsos, looked at the public’s predictions about... Read more

Last updated on: January 1, 2007 at 12:15 am By Cathleen Falsani

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! From the blustery shores of Kincardine, Ontario, Canada, we here at God Girl HQ wish you and yours abundant blessings and audacious grace in 2007. GG Read more

Last updated on: December 29, 2006 at 12:15 pm By Cathleen Falsani

GODSTUFF: THOUGHTS FROM A YEAR IN FAITH: 2006 As 2006 draws to a close — an annus horribilis for some of us, annus mirabilis for others — it’s once again time to reflect on some of the more spiritually intriguing ideas I’ve heard this year. Heartening, maddening and challenging, here are (in no particular order) a few sound bites from the year in faith: “The glorious thing for you always has consequences for others.”— Al Gini, Loyola University Chicago philosophy... Read more