Tag: life

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Tom Nelson

Food, eating, and Lent

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Eating is a sacred act, for it represents the natural inclination for sustenance which powers all living bodies and therefore is the life-sustaining force of the Creator.

The Psalmist wrote: “(O Lord) You raise grass for the cattle, and vegetation for men’s use, Producing bread from the earth and wine to gladden men’s hearts, So that their faces gleam with oil, and bread fortifies the hearts of men” (Psalm 104: 14, 15).

In the same passage he continues, “They all look to you to give them food in due time. When you give it to them, they gather it; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.”

Tending the earth

In the earliest section of the Genesis narrative, God the Creator blows life into a shaped lump of earthen clay and from this act of His spirit the human family was born.

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Lisa M. Petsche

Attitude is everything as we age

Guest Column

There is no shortage of information in the media about how to improve your life through instrumental changes such as eating more nutritiously, exercising and not smoking.

Did you know, though, that nurturing a positive mental attitude can also go a long way toward maximizing your physical, mental and spiritual well-being?

Even if you don’t consider yourself a naysayer, make it a point over the next few days to scrutinize everything you think and say; you might be surprised.

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Fr. Paul Ugo Arinze

Let us joyfully tell the story anew!

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, January 9, 2011 marks the beginning of the National Vocation Awareness Week.

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While the Baptism of Christ focuses on the revelation of Christ as the “Beloved Son of God,” it reminds us of our own Baptism.

Baptism marks the beginning of our “vocation”as Christians.

By virtue of our Baptism, we also share in the three-fold mission of Christ to be priest, prophet, and king.

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Sr. Margie Lavonis

Christ bids us to come – and go

Cutting Edge by Sr. Margie Lavonis

I have a ritual I practice on New Year’s Eve or day, depending on what is going on in my life. I take some quiet time to review how God has worked in my life over the past year.

Last year I recalled a journal entry that summarized a talk I still remember. It was given during a day of prayer. The presenter, a wonderful Holy Cross priest, made a simple but profound statement. He said that Christian discipleship can be summed up by two words — “Come” and “Go.”

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Olivia Knier

Christian feminity: Living like Our Lady in modern times

With Christmas festivities underway and family gatherings abounding, Christ’s birth is any Christian’s central focus.

Olivia Knier

Surely this focus has brought about some thought on the Blessed Virgin’s important role in the Christ Child’s life.

The simple, yet difficult role she held in His time can hardly be paralleled with such a fast-paced culture as ours is today, can it?

With the role of women in society changing rapidly, it’s easy to lose sight of where women should stand. Involvement of a woman in society today is different from that of Jesus’ time, but still centers around the same characteristic: primary focus of service to the family.

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Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

Humans in ‘frozen orphanages’ need protection

A key argument in the embryonic stem cell debate — widely invoked by scientists, patient advocacy groups, and politicians — involves the fate of frozen embryos.

Barack Obama put it this way in 2008: “If we are going to discard those embryos, and we know there is potential research that could lead to curing debilitating diseases — Alzheimer’s, Lou Gehrig’s disease — if that possibility presents itself, then I think that we should, in a careful way, go ahead and pursue that research.”

The head of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins, embraced this same line of reasoning by

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