News - July 2009 RSS Feed

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The recent publication of two medical studies in the New England Journal of Medicine has ignited media scrutiny regarding the necessity of PSA testing to detect prostate cancer. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing is a blood test to screen for prostate cancer. The studies concluded that although screening may save a few lives, for many patients, a positive PSA test leads to treatments that can be aggressive, unnecessary and may cause side effects which include impotence and incontinence.

Father John Corapi has a profound way of telling it like it is. The renowned preacher’s booming baritone cuts through the clutter of easy answers and points to the fundamentals of our faith. The dynamic evangelist, who fashioned his ministry around the mold of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, suspended his hectic travel schedule two years ago, then fell ill.

Among the many unsettling revelations attending the current global financial crisis is that some of the traders who structured the most problematic credit derivatives that put the whole economy in jeopardy were alumni of Enron. Rather than learn lessons about the excesses of the dot-com boom, investment banks and insurance companies readily employed what one author famously called “the smartest guys in the room.”

Yes, the economy is tough right now. We are in the midst of a recession and have been for some time, and it may last a lot longer. In times like these, most people are reassessing their priorities.

In June we celebrated the great feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit rushed upon the apostles, enflaming their hearts with love and zeal for God. Each year Pentecost provides us with the opportunity to ask the Holy Spirit to reawaken in us that same zeal for God and to consider the Spirit’s presence in our lives and how we’re living our faith.

Conscience is the faculty which warns you that you’re doing something wrong — or neglecting to do something right that should be undertaken. But it doesn’t work in a vacuum. You first have to learn what’s right and what’s wrong, and that’s a job for your intellect. If you learn well, your conscience will guide you well. If you learn poorly, your conscience won’t be trustworthy.

I’m a new American. A few hours after my son was born two years ago, I raised my right hand and took the oath of citizenship. I swore to “defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America” because the Constitution’s values are essential to a healthy, just and moral society. This fact seems to be lost on some of our elected officials who should renew their own commitment to the Constitution, particularly the First Amendment rights to religious liberty.

During the 1960s, it was hip to protest the Vietnam War. Many called upon their principles or religious beliefs to protest an unpopular war as “conscientious objectors.” Hippies popped flowers into soldiers' rifles, and Jane Fonda went all the way to Hanoi to gripe about the conflict.

The Vatican examines the treatment of human embryos in its bioethics document Dignitas Personae, released late last year. The document takes on a myriad of bioethical concerns including freezing oocytes (immature ova or egg cells), the reduction of embryos and preimplantation diagnosis. Though none of these procedures is new, they have drawn the Vatican’s attention and that of Catholics around the world.

At the age of 20, Vianney’s studies for the priesthood were interrupted when he was drafted into Napoleon Bonaparte’s army. He was threatened with arrest for desertion when his regiment left while he was praying in church. After returning to the seminary, he struggled academically and was once dismissed. With tutors’ help, however, he was readmitted. His superiors were impressed with his piety, and the vicar-general of France approved his ordination saying, “Ordain him. The grace of God will do the rest.”

Father Ralph O’Donnell is heartened by the Holy Father’s declaration of a special “Year for Priests,” which began in June. He begins the priestly year by welcoming a new chief shepherd in Omaha, Archbishop George Lucas. As the Omaha Chapter’s founding chaplain, Fr. O’Donnell is the former archdiocesan vocations director. The 39-year-old priest currently serves as the director of Omaha’s permanent diaconate program and the pastor of both St. Rose and St. Bridget parishes.

Father John Corapi has a profound way of telling it like it is. The renowned preacher’s booming baritone cuts through the clutter of easy answers and points to the fundamentals of our faith. The dynamic evangelist, who fashioned his ministry around the mold of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, suspended his hectic travel schedule two years ago, then fell ill.

In June we celebrated the great feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit rushed upon the apostles, enflaming their hearts with love and zeal for God. Each year Pentecost provides us with the opportunity to ask the Holy Spirit to reawaken in us that same zeal for God and to consider the Spirit’s presence in our lives and how we’re living our faith.

Conscience is the faculty which warns you that you’re doing something wrong — or neglecting to do something right that should be undertaken. But it doesn’t work in a vacuum. You first have to learn what’s right and what’s wrong, and that’s a job for your intellect. If you learn well, your conscience will guide you well. If you learn poorly, your conscience won’t be trustworthy.

During the 1960s, it was hip to protest the Vietnam War. Many called upon their principles or religious beliefs to protest an unpopular war as “conscientious objectors.” Hippies popped flowers into soldiers' rifles, and Jane Fonda went all the way to Hanoi to gripe about the conflict.