Of Many Things
Law without conscience ignores our humanity
We are either human beings, created in the image and likeness of God and endowed with moral agency and free will, or we are merely machines, programmed through laws and regulations, mere code written by the programmers.
Letters
The Letters
Money in Politics Re “America’s (Un)Civil War,” by Matt Malone, S.J. (Of Many Things, 11/26): Civility and compromise, perhaps, are joined at the hip. Politicians and candidates inclined to compromise could face election opponents backed by mega-money. Why would any politician or candidate intentionally incur the wrath of mega-money? Chuck Kotlarz Addressing Clericalism Re…
Your Take
How do you incorporate charity into your holiday traditions?
When asked who they donate money to, respondents mostly named local organizations, such as those that support the homeless.
Editorials
The Editors: Bipartisan criminal justice reform is within reach
The United States spends $81 billion to lock people up each year, and the human costs of incarceration to inmates, their families and entire communities are incalculably greater.
The enduring call to fight racism
The new pastoral letter on racism was approved by the bishops, 241 to 3, on Nov. 14.
Short Take
How pastoral failures in communication are provoking a crisis of faith
The tragedy of the last week is that the faithful are left to read tea leaves to understand what their bishops and their pope are trying to do in the first place. The Vatican’s action, which in the past could have been interpreted and explained over time, instead provokes a crisis of faith in church…
Dispatches
Infographic: The role of college campus ministries
The report examined two distinct approaches to campus ministry. Degree-educated staff tend to emphasize public service, but missionary-trained staff are more likely to focus on students’ personal relationships with God.
Seattle University plans fossil fuel divestment: Will other Jesuit schools follow its lead?
The fossil fuel divestment movement, which started in the 2000s, has become a mainstay of activism on college campuses.
Brazil turns far-right. What role did religion play in Bolsonaro’s election?
In his first speech after his victory, Brazil’s far-right president-elect thanked God and praised voters for allowing the country to “march now on the right path.”
No major action on sex abuse accountability at U.S. bishops’ meeting
At the request of the Vatican, the U.S. bishops postponed a vote on a set of proposals aimed at holding themselves accountable over sexual abuse.
The faithful deported: Study details impact of Trump’s immigration policies
The “Catholic Removal Impact Survey of Society” surveyed 133 deportees to provide insights into the effects of deportation on immigrants and their families.
Features
A pregnant pause: Mary and the Annunciation
Fewer than 200 words are attributed to Mary in Scripture, but those words have inspired innumerable prayers, hymns, sermons and other devotional practices, perhaps none more than her words at the Annunciation.
Deployment to Iraq changed my view of God, country and humankind. So did coming home.
War experience, and trauma more generally, can be an assault not only on one’s physical sense of safety, but on one’s social, moral, and spiritual conception of the world.
Faith and Reason
Women have been leading since Biblical times—they can lead again today.
The record number of women who will be serving in Congress following the momentous 2018 midterm elections may not be aware that the Bible supports their initiative to serve in this moment of political crisis.
Faith in Focus
The U.S. can’t match Mary’s perfection, but we can aspire to her humility
Is it conceit or coincidence that a saint who was conceived without sin is the patron of a country that believes the same about itself?
Ideas
My ancestor owned 41 slaves. What do I owe their descendants?
Shining a light on the truth, followed by some sort of atonement, seemed the right thing to do, especially at a time of rising and relegitimized white supremacy in the United States.
Books
Stephen Markley’s ‘Ohio’ is the novel you need to read to understand the Midwest today.
Stephen Markley’s new novel is an intimate, long look at a single night in New Canaan, a fictional “corn and rust” town set somewhere between central and northeast Ohio.
Review: Sarah Smarsh on the hard-to-find American Dream
“The American narrative of a hard-luck individual working hard, doing the right thing, and finding success for it is so deep in me, my life story so tempting as potential evidence for that narrative’s validity,” Sarah Smarsh writes of her own upwardly mobile economic and intellectual trajectory, “that I probably sometimes err on the side…
John Cheever’s sad Christmas story is ideal Advent reading
The simultaneous pull of love and sadness is pure Cheever and permeates his Christmas story.
Review: The roots of American conservatism
William F. Buckley Jr. was more than a prolific writer: He was the brains and coalescing force of a post-World War II philosophy that gradually became known as “conservatism” and which culminated with the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan as president.
Andre Dubus’s challenging but beautifully written stories have been reissued
Dubus was an irascible, loyal, loving, smoking, hard-drinking, hard-punching, tender man, who demanded much of himself and others.
Theater
Kenneth Lonergan’s “The Waverly Gallery” makes a belated and brilliant Broadway debut
Two seasoned actors explore meaning and mortality in ‘The Waverly Gallery’ and ‘Thom Pain (based on nothing).’
Poetry
Self-Portrait in Daylight
I wanted to live my life split open, awake
The Word
How do you find joy in everyday life?
Even the simplest moment has in it a world-changing significance for anyone who is ready to find the work of God.
How can we imagine a different world?
Many dreamed of an apocalyptic day when God would sweep oppressive realities away.
Last Take
How addiction and trauma brought one nun closer to God
For the past 10 years, I have been able to share my journey of encountering God’s healing love and mercy at conferences and retreats with audiences of all ages and backgrounds across the nation.
Faith
Infographic: The role of college campus ministries
The report examined two distinct approaches to campus ministry. Degree-educated staff tend to emphasize public service, but missionary-trained staff are more likely to focus on students’ personal relationships with God.
How addiction and trauma brought one nun closer to God
For the past 10 years, I have been able to share my journey of encountering God’s healing love and mercy at conferences and retreats with audiences of all ages and backgrounds across the nation.
The enduring call to fight racism
The new pastoral letter on racism was approved by the bishops, 241 to 3, on Nov. 14.
A pregnant pause: Mary and the Annunciation
Fewer than 200 words are attributed to Mary in Scripture, but those words have inspired innumerable prayers, hymns, sermons and other devotional practices, perhaps none more than her words at the Annunciation.
The U.S. can’t match Mary’s perfection, but we can aspire to her humility
Is it conceit or coincidence that a saint who was conceived without sin is the patron of a country that believes the same about itself?
How do you find joy in everyday life?
Even the simplest moment has in it a world-changing significance for anyone who is ready to find the work of God.
How can we imagine a different world?
Many dreamed of an apocalyptic day when God would sweep oppressive realities away.
Seattle University plans fossil fuel divestment: Will other Jesuit schools follow its lead?
The fossil fuel divestment movement, which started in the 2000s, has become a mainstay of activism on college campuses.
How pastoral failures in communication are provoking a crisis of faith
The tragedy of the last week is that the faithful are left to read tea leaves to understand what their bishops and their pope are trying to do in the first place. The Vatican’s action, which in the past could have been interpreted and explained over time, instead provokes a crisis of faith in church…
No major action on sex abuse accountability at U.S. bishops’ meeting
At the request of the Vatican, the U.S. bishops postponed a vote on a set of proposals aimed at holding themselves accountable over sexual abuse.
Women have been leading since Biblical times—they can lead again today.
The record number of women who will be serving in Congress following the momentous 2018 midterm elections may not be aware that the Bible supports their initiative to serve in this moment of political crisis.
Magazine
The Letters
Money in Politics Re “America’s (Un)Civil War,” by Matt Malone, S.J. (Of Many Things, 11/26): Civility and compromise, perhaps, are joined at the hip. Politicians and candidates inclined to compromise could face election opponents backed by mega-money. Why would any politician or candidate intentionally incur the wrath of mega-money? Chuck Kotlarz Addressing Clericalism Re…
Politics
Faith
Culture
Vatican
Scripture
Podcasts