CATHOLIC VOICES By Julia Gatta In 1938 Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: In the period between the death of Christ and the day of judgment, when Christians are allowed to live here in visible community with other Christians, we have merely a gracious anticipation of the end time. It is by God’s grace that a congregation is permitted to gather visibly around God’s word and … [Read more...] about Communion with Christ and One Another in a Time of Pandemic
Catholic Voices
The List
Catholic Voices By Richard Mammana It is a cold Thursday morning near the banks of the Cumberland River in Central Tennessee, and I am preparing for a board meeting. I have had a mug of coffee with the morning’s portion of the Psalter before a brief attempt at inbox triage — and then the last-minute compilation of the list that makes this board meeting different from every … [Read more...] about The List
Dress for the Banquet
Catholic VoicesBy E.T. Malone, Jr.Recently someone asked me, “Why does the Church require that a person be baptized before receiving Holy Communion?” It was clear to me that he felt this was not fair. “What would Jesus do?” he asked. The implication was that, surely, a loving and inclusive Jesus would not turn anyone away from the heavenly banquet.There is no short, simple … [Read more...] about Dress for the Banquet
Taming the Bureaucratic Beast
Catholic VoicesBy Steven R. FordA now-dead former actor and U.S. president was once accused of conflating real life and cinema, and on occasion he undoubtedly did. But there’s nothing wrong with that. Good movies are meant to examine some aspect of life and reality, and fudging a little on what’s being examined can sometimes produce valuable insights.On my way to Hanoi, where … [Read more...] about Taming the Bureaucratic Beast
Take Justice Seriously
Catholic Voices Human Rights Day December 10 By Donn Mitchell “My soul stood erect, exultant, envisioning a new world where the light of justice for every individual will be unclouded.” With those words in a letter to Eleanor Roosevelt, Helen Keller described her reaction on December 10, 1948, when the United Nations proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human … [Read more...] about Take Justice Seriously
Voices of Buchenwald
By Alexander H. “Sandy” Webb II Could this be Buchenwald? The cobblestone access road was lush and green. The sky was blue, with a beautiful view of the valley below. Could this be the place where more than 240,000 Jews, Gypsies, and other perceived enemies of the Third Reich once lived in slavery? “If these trees could talk,” Elie Wiesel said five years ago, drawing on his … [Read more...] about Voices of Buchenwald
Going Home Justified
By David HeinThe late director Sam Peckinpah’s name was synonymous with the extravagant violence of The Wild Bunch (1969) and Straw Dogs (1971), but his Ride the High Country (1962) is a study in Christian character. If you want to know what made leaders such as General George C. Marshall (1880-1959) great, see this film that marked the end of the classic Western.Because the … [Read more...] about Going Home Justified
The Iconic Mandela
Catholic Voices By John W. de Gruchy Prior to his inauguration as President of the post-apartheid Republic of South Africa, Nelson Mandela attended Mass one Sunday morning at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Cape Town. The event created a stir that included a query from the Vatican on whether giving him Communion was appropriate under canon law. The answer was simple: “Would you … [Read more...] about The Iconic Mandela