Perspective
When is it a sin to make a referral?
During World War II, if a contractor had been asked to construct a building knowing that it would serve as a gas chamber in Auschwitz, it goes without saying that […]
Perspective Archive
Perspective
A different type of storm
For over 20 years I had the pleasure of taking care of a particular gentleman. He had a severe cardiomyopathy, which means that his main pumping chamber, the left ventricle, […]
Perspective
An education for kindness
Like many, I enjoyed watching the video clips of Prince George starting school. I am taken, though, with the choice of school by his parents, one that departs from prior […]
Perspective
The hollow man
What savagery lies in the breast of man? Two recent television epics ask us to contemplate this question. The first is Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s magnificent documentary, “The Vietnam […]
Perspective
Transmigration of theological nonsense
During the Long Lent of 2002, Sister Betsy Conway, who lived in the Bostonian epicenter of the clerical sexual abuse crisis, spoke for many self-identified progressive Catholics when she told […]
Perspective
Pastoral formation: jumping into reality
There were many opportunities for me to grow while I was working construction and out in the field during my high school and early college summers. A common situation for […]
Perspective
Sex in accord with reason
An article published in 2012 in The Atlantic described the sexual practices of the Aka and Ngandu people, who live in the tropical forests of central Africa. Researchers Barry and […]
Perspective
Is this bloodshed really necessary?
A book review by David McClamrock From my first year in law school, I remember the excellent advice of Irving Younger: Briefly make the points you need to make, and […]
Perspective
Hurricane Harvey and the kayaking priest
Hurricane Harvey stranded Father David Bergeron in his pickup the night it ripped through Houston. The 38-year-old priest had been visiting his brother and had to pull over on an […]
Perspective
Lead with beauty: evangelization and the solar eclipse
The rain fell heavy on a Monday morning in Des Moines, Iowa. Bleary-eyed travelers noticed, and plotted alternative routes over eggs and potatoes at the Embassy Suites. A white-haired man […]
Perspective
Don’t wait for the young adult group to get involved in your parish
By Zac Davis Young adults are tough to minister to. We’re on the move, our peers aren’t going to church with us, and we’re most likely to sneak out of […]
Columns
Sometimes you have to bend the rules
Recently a gentleman presented to one of my cardiology colleagues in the office for evaluation of symptoms that can best be described as vague and nonspecific. He happened to be […]