Latest Articles
Pope Francis breathes new life into Cardinal Bernardin’s contested legacy
c. 2013 Religion News Service...
Kenyans fear rise in Christian-Muslim conflict
While the smoke that hung over the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi has dissipated, tension still lingers in the air....
Holy communion
My family shared communion bread in my father’s hospice room before he died. We blessed it, broke it, and ate it....
Thérèse of Lisieux and mental health
People who seek treatment for mental illness don’t often consult a 19th-century nun, but perhaps they should. St. Thérèse of Lisieux offers an entirely different—and liberating—way to think about mental health.
Thursday digest
New today from the Century: The pastoral pope, sharing communion in a hospice room, more.
What W. H. Auden Can Do for You, by Alexander McCall Smith
It is no surprise to people who have read Smith’s novels that he has an appreciation for the poetry of W. H....
Bishop’s suspension a symptom of German Catholic Church’s wealth
c. 2013 Religion News Service...
Serenity and the politics of stupidity
As the debacle unfolded over the Affordable Care Act, I stumbled to find some solace amidst the storm of stupidity that seemed to defy politics and logic. And when I stumble I usually look to Reinhold Niebuhr.
Does it make sense to destroy guns?
Here in Chicago, reporter Rob Wilderboer found a compelling story last week:
The Chicago Police Department throws out about $2 million every year. It’s money that is forfeited by the city when police destroy the guns they seize rather than sell them to licensed firearms dealers. The decision is made for emotional, political and ideological reasons.
Wilderboer sets it up as a simple choice: money for the CPD/other City services? Or the satisfaction of destroying weapons?
Wednesday digest
New today from the Century: Will Willimon reviews Tom Long and Tom Lynch, Ray Haberski on the Serenity Prayer, more.
The body in question
The two best writers on American ways of death, burial and grieving have given us our best book on funerals.
All Saints Sunday, November 3: Luke 6:20-31
They are overhead even now, making a racket as they chant Texas, Texas, Texas. The high cold air brushes the tips of their wings....
Brunei to implement Shariah penal code, including stoning, caning
c. 2013 Religion News Service...
Costly hospitality: Learning trust at Rutba House
Opening ourselves to others takes time. But love is a prisoner who stays up all night with a sharpened toothbrush, working away at a crack in the wall.
One pastor's experience with Year D
Daniel Mayes is a Disciples of Christ pastor. He did his D.Min. at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, where Timothy Slemmons—creator of the Year D project, which I wrote about for the Century—was one of his advisors. Mayes’s church, First Christian Church of Spencer, Iowa, has been using Year D in worship throughout the current liturgical year. I asked him a few questions about how it’s gone.
It's not about the nail—except when it is
This video made the rounds recently. It’s well done, but does it really describe the different ways that men and women communicate?
Tuesday digest
New today from the Century: Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove on costly hospitality, April Yamasaki on the times when it actual is about the nail, more.