Vol. 75, No. 5
Cover
Men of the same cloth? Parish react to a new style of priest
By Christina Capecchi
With their preference for retro liturgical fashion and their homilies on birth control, today’s newly ordained are shaking up the status quo. Christina Capecchi reports on the changes they’re bringing in both style and substance.
Sidebar:
Priestly people skills
Interview
It’s time to take our medicine
An interview with Sister Carol Keehan, D.C.
The health care debate pitted not only political parties against one another; it caused an argument in the Catholic family as well. The Catholic Health Association’s Sister Carol Keehan, D.C. explains why the CHA broke with the bishops in support of health care reform.
Sidebar:
A Catholic doctor’s Good Samaritan plan
Sounding Board
Seniors need some class
By John J. Donovan
Older adults deserve more than bingo from parishes. They’re hungry to keep learning about their faith, argues John J. Donovan. In Feedback readers ask if we are teaching our elders well.
Feature
We’ve got Spirit!
By Heather Grennan Gary
Evangelicals are the cheerleaders of the Christian world, and Catholics could learn a thing or two from them when it comes to a rallying the younger crowd, reports Heather Grennan Gary. But we may need to get out of our bleacher-bound comfort zone and into the game.
Sidebar:
Catholic with an evangelical twist
Essays
(Essays, short stories, and poems may not be available online.)
Mother without child
By Vinita Hampton Wright
Mother’s Day can be downright miserable for women who have no children of their own, but Vinita Hampton Wright has discovered in her own life a broader understanding of motherhood.
Out of sight, out of mind
By Joseph F. Kelly
Seen any priests lately–outside of Mass, that is? Joseph F. Kelly argues that the priest shortage has no become a self-perpetuating problem.
Heart to heart: Mary and motherhood
By Ginny Kubitz Moyer
The devotion to Mary’s Immaculate Heart never appealed to her, writes Ginny Kubitz Moyer, until she had her own baby boy.
Poem
Astonishment of heart
By Gwendolyn Brooks
U.S. Catholic marks its 75th anniversary this month by revisiting this 1968 poem for a nation in turmoil.
Departments
Editors’ Note
You May Be Right (Letters to the Editor)
Signs of the Times (News)
Catholic Tastes (Humor)
Culture in Context: Music, film, and book reviews
At Home with Our Faith (Family spirituality)
Eye of the Beholder (Art meditation)
Glad You Asked: What is theology?
Columns
The Examined Life: Don’t forget the flowers
By Bryan Cones
Margin Notes: Working for the common grid
By Kevin Clarke
Culture in Context: Men with a vengeance
By Patrick McCormick
Testaments: Were we at the same meeting?
By Alice Camille