Category Archives: Digital Edition

We haven’t baptized our pandemic baby yet. It’s fine. A still unscheduled baptism prompts a re-examination of a parent’s priorities. In my final trimester of pregnancy with our firstborn, I followed all of the Prepare for Baby instructions provided enthusiastically by friends, strangers, and the internet. I installed the car seat, sent thank-you notes for […]

Taizé can bring us together Taizé is more than prayer: It unifies believers regardless of creed. With confusion and anticipation, I watched Daniel make his way to the large crucifix that rested on risers for veneration. He moved on his knees toward the image of Christ. If all I knew of him was the sincerity […]

Is it a boy or a girl? Does it matter? Is our society too fixated on gender? Take our survey. A researcher by training, I immediately ordered a short stack of books when I found out I was pregnant with my first child. For eight months, Heidi Murkoff’s classic What to Expect When You’re Expecting (Workman Publishing) […]

President Biden needs cooperation from church leaders Catholics and President Biden can find common ground for the common good. It’s no surprise that the nation’s most prominent Catholic, Joe Biden, has become the focus of episcopal consternation as the church’s intracultural war over pro-choice politicians and communion flares anew. His elevation to the presidency marks […]

Look to Indigenous peoples to revive true biblical ecology The land takes care of us. Will we take care of her? Many people are out in their gardens this time of year, hands deep in the soil, working together with the Earth to bring forth vegetation. The idea of humans as cocreators with God has […]

Can Catholics agree on anything about abortion? Catholics of all political stripes can come together around supporting women and children. We are all familiar with the story in the Gospel of John when Jesus encounters a woman accused of adultery, the penalty for which is death by stoning. The Pharisees in this narrative exploit the […]

Masculinity and faith intersect at a Brooklyn parish festival The men involved in the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel find God not only in Mass and prayer, but also through manual labor, tattoos, and family ties. Professor of religion Alyssa Maldonado-Estrada says that growing up in New York City she was always fascinated […]

10 retreats to restore your soul Spiritual retreats can happen anywhere—from a retreat center to the kitchen table. An invitation from a local retreat center beckons to the worn and weary. Who among us does not need renewal these days? The demands of daily life challenge even the most disciplined spiritual seekers. It helps every […]

How the pandemic taught me to embrace downtime Working from home isn’t always as peaceful as we think. I started working for U.S. Catholic on the day our office closed during the first wave of the novel coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. While I was bummed not to meet my new coworkers face to face, I embraced […]