What We’ve Been Reading—11.3.20

by Editors

Our editors share their thoughts on what they've been reading recently. Continue Reading »

3 Nov 2020

Letters

by Various

After reading Douglas Farrow’s “The Secret of the Saeculum” (May), I found myself unsure of how to understand it. Take, for instance, the following striking passage: Our age is a very definite age, a very well-defined age, precisely because it is bracketed by the first and second comings of . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Aug 2020

Solitary Prayer

by Shalom Carmy

It may seem odd to outsiders that in the middle of the last century, seating arrangements in synagogues were the most prominent marker of the division between American Orthodox Judaism and the other American Jewish religious movements. Orthodoxy maintained separate seating for men and women and the . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Aug 2020

Why School Prayer Matters

by Steven D. Smith

In his State of the Union address and elsewhere, President Trump has emphasized the importance of prayer in public schools. In one speech he promised “big action” on the matter. But just what action he is contemplating remains obscure. Teacher-led prayer to open the school day? Football players . . . . Continue Reading »

1 May 2020

Prayer, Distraction, and
Daily Life

by Shalom Carmy

Let’s begin by reviewing some fundamentals of Jewish prayer. The mandatory prayers are offered three times daily. This commandment may be fulfilled in private. However, significant elements of the standard prayers have a public character. These are primarily the recitations of outcry or praise . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Mar 2020

The Doctor and the Patient in the Next Exam Bay

by Midge Goldberg

“Sing it again,” I want to ask them bothas I sit here alone behind mesh drapeson paper drawn across a vinyl table—easier to clean but somehow sticky,not cold, instead uncomfortably warm,as though I feel the heat of the last patients(old man? sad woman?), as though they might be catching. . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Mar 2020

Ancient Patterns of Prayer

by Michael C. Legaspi

Prayer is, most fundamentally, a matter of heeding a call and showing up. Continue Reading »

27 Feb 2020

New Year’s Resolutions for Concerned Catholics: A Few Suggestions

by George Weigel

Suggested resolutions that might help us all deal with the year ahead in faith, hope, and charity. Continue Reading »

1 Jan 2020

Litany

by Timothy Dusenbury

For the fire that answers the covering dark,For every marriage that ends in faith,For the hand that finds desired work,And for every reconciled death, We bless you, O Lord, and we ask that             we may be added to their number. For the wall that answers . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jan 2020

First Sunday

by Sally Thomas

In Advent, the hermit lights a candle-end,Drips wax onto a saucer, stands it there.The early nightfall forms itself aroundThis little shivering flame. He says his prayer:Stir up Thy power, Lord. Outside, the windHas risen. Rain flicks its fingers at the window.He’s alone. God’s called him to . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Dec 2019