The flames grew higher wider They lashed out of the frame they were in They came for the surrounding material Anything everything they could consume They would consume The men in thick suits could not get close The fire was too hot too strong There was nothing to do but stand back And do what could be done from a distance Time went by The pastor sat on the ground and wept The heat pressed down on him But it didn’t matter It was...
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(by Joe Simmons, SJ) This past weekend witnessed the canonization of seven new saints in Rome. For holy men or women to be recognized as capital-S Saints in the Roman Catholic Church, typically two miracles need to be attributed to their intercession. Usually these come when someone is healed without an easy medical explanation. Call me the modern skeptic, but I always found this litmus test to be… well… troubling, I guess. In my...
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(by Patricia Treece) Sixteen-month-old Elizabeth Fanning lies listlessly in her mother’s arms. Anxiously, drawn-faced Mrs. Fanning coaxes her child to take even a spoonful of the liver soup recommended by doctors. But although Elizabeth’s swollen belly and twiglike limbs make her look like a starvation victim, the lethargic baby has no interest in food of any kind. Little Betsy, as her parents call her, has a fatal...
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