Remember when, about four years ago, conservative Glenn Beck equated social justice with Communism, advising Christians to leave their churches if they ever heard the words uttered there? “If you have a priest that is pushing social justice, go find another parish. Go alert your bishop.” Yet, the Church has had a body of teaching on social justice for almost 125 years. Evidently pundit Beck didn’t get that memo. People tire of hearing the words “social justice,” especially in connection wit...

Scarcely two weeks have passed since I assisted a dying woman. This was not the first time, but each time the experience is new and personal.  I watched her as she lay there, unable to open her eyes or to speak, her breathing labored. I gazed on her face, attentive for signs of what she might be experiencing. My heart ached each time she moaned in pain. Family and friends surrounded her; I was glad that she would not make this journey alone. She had been lonely much of her 85 years: th...