Columns
‘Exceptions’ and undermining the moral law
Whenever we make small exceptions to universal moral rules, we shouldn’t be surprised that the rules themselves can be quickly undermined.
Much to celebrate
February is Catholic Press Month, and as the editor of a Catholic newspaper, it’s my job to write a column celebrating the Catholic press.
Msgr. Meulemans a model of mentorship
Nemo dat quod non habet. This Latin phrase has shown up several times in the last six months. The first time occurred in a talk at our annual seminary retreat in August. I then saw it in Timothy Cardinal Dolan’s book “Priests of the Third Millennium” this fall.
Justice and peace for Jayme
Sharing advice as a fellow kidnapping survivor, Elizabeth Smart has spoken out on Jayme Closs’s courageous escape to freedom and what lies ahead. In one interview on NBC’s The Today Show, she said, “As big as this feels right now, it doesn’t have to define her life,” and added “You don’t go back to the old normal, there’s only a new normal.”
The runaway train of IVF
In November, a Chinese scientist named He Jankui (known to his associates as “JK”) claimed he had successfully produced the world’s first gene-edited human babies using “gene surgery.” The twin girls, he said, were born somewhere in China with a modified gene that makes them immune to infection from HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Wedding rings and Christmas things
Saturday morning I took off my wedding ring to make gingerbread cookies with the kids. Given their ages – 6, 5 and 3 years old – you can imagine there were a handful of times I wondered if the effort was worth the memory-making tradition.
The joy and wonder of Christmas
Advent, Christmas, New Year’s. It is natural to assess one’s happiness this time of year.
A journey and a celebration
Bishop James P. Powers 2018 Christmas message.
It all starts at home
The consequences of human sexuality’s misuse have always had far-reaching effects, particularly on recent public display through the sex abuse crisis in the Church, the burgeoning #metoo movement and the Supreme Court nomination.