I have philosophical conversations with my dentist while he cleans my teeth. It’s no small task to attempt to be profound with a hook in your mouth, but Dr...
Death and dying
We all know what it is to feel pain and loss. Whether from the loss of a loved one, a cancer diagnosis, or a natural disaster, everyone experiences suffering...
Despite our best intentions, sometimes we fail at aiding our aging parents. Joyce Rupp says empathy is a good place to start. Servant of Mary Sister Joyce Rupp...
By Father James Tunstead Burtchaell, C.S.C. This essay appeared in the May 1988 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 53, No. 5, pages 29-31). Ruth and Paul came by...
Since 1963 the church has taught that Catholics can be cremated, abolishing its longstanding prohibition of the practice. Cremation was fairly widespread in...
Traditionally, Catholics believed that a person could reach heaven only if he or she was buried in a Catholic cemetery. But limited space meant few people...
A table in my living room has become a kind of shrine. On it rest photos of people special to me: my grandmother, my parents, my best friend. All have passed...
Generations of Catholics were raised to believe that suicide was one of the gravest sins a person can commit—and many Catholics today still fear that a loved...
What began with giving a doll the sacrament of the sick ended up as a real-life lesson. At the end of each school day, my first-grade students loved to play a...
When a person dies by suicide, those left behind often find themselves asking the same painful question: “What could I have done to prevent this?” In most...
