We don’t understand religious freedom. COVID-19 proved it. Religious freedom has been a hot topic in the United States for decades. But the pandemic offered a crash course on the topic. Even during the early months of the pandemic, many called the global outbreak of COVID-19 an apocalyptic event. This was not only in the […]
Do Catholics have to get the COVID-19 vaccine? Vaccines protect the common good, but if you choose not to get one your moral obligation doesn’t end there. Some people are expressing hesitancy about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. There are a variety of reasons for this, including incomplete or incorrect information regarding the vaccines themselves and […]
What the pandemic taught me about sacramentality After a long year of isolation, it’s being together we miss the most. What I miss most about going to church is the choir. During this long year of pandemic, when I only entered our parish building twice, that’s the piece of liturgy I wished most to restore […]
Guided by faith, a Vermont Rep. is a voice for the vulnerable Advocating for the marginalized is the core of Marybeth Redmond’s mission. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Marybeth Redmond, who serves in the Vermont House of Representatives, advocated for the Vermont legislature to grant relief money to two organizations that serve often […]
Billionaires and justice cannot coexist The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated a galling process of wealth maldistribution. Envy is one of the dread seven deadlies, and like decent folk everywhere I’m squarely against it. But I’m not sure envy is the right descriptive for the average schmoe’s steam-snorting, teeth-gnashing reaction to one of the more lopsided outcomes of […]
Should kids have their own liturgy? How does your parish welcome children into the liturgy? Take our survey. When my husband and I brought each of our babies for baptism, the church posed two questions: “What name do you give your child?” and “What do you ask of God’s church?” The standard answer to the […]
Black Catholics are leaving the church. Why? Despite high levels of religious commitment, Black Catholics are abandoning the church. In February, the Pew Research Center published the most comprehensive survey to date of Black faith in America. This report is a major resource for understanding U.S. Black religious life in all of its manifestations: Catholic, […]
Each stage of life brings opportunities for discernment Our lives ebb and flow, but God remains constant throughout. Years ago, when I was in graduate school, I had a wonderful spiritual director who would often ask me this simple question when I was in the midst of discernment: “What is it the season for?” It […]
In ‘All Creatures Great and Small,’ humanity steals the show A new PBS series about a country vet shows the power of human decency. It’s so nice to visit England. It’s even more delightful to time travel back to the years before the Second World War, remembered nostalgically through the eyes of beloved author and […]