Don't let gift-giving hijack your Christmas. Instead, suggests Mary O'Connell, return to family traditions to recapture the true meaning of the season. We Bring, an occasional series celebrating diversity in the U.S. Catholic Church. A song for the dying Photographer Lynn Johnson and writer Joshua Simon report on a ministry that comforts the dying and strengthens their loved ones. Parish sharing means more than a second collection Sounding Board author Bill Appleby Purcell says when parishes of different ethnic and financial makeups become true partners, everybody wins.
Readers share tales of victory and defeat.
If you're too busy to walk your dog and clip your own toenails, maybe you're working too hard, says Kevin Clarke in Margin Notes . A prayer to come home to Father George R. Szews offers a heartfelt invitation to a lost sheep. Go in peace After 10 years, a popular pastor says goodbye to his congregation. In Practicing Catholic , Brian Doyle remembers. In The Examined Life , Tom McGrath recites a litany of saintly people who reveal how the Incarnation unfolds even today.