archives

By Stan Diel
Religion News Service

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Gov. Bob Riley on Tuesday (May 20) asked Alabama churches to shoulder the burden of caring for newly released inmates, saying the state lacks the flexibility and funds to help them successfully re-enter society.

Leaders from churches and charitable groups were asked to provide a wide range of services to former inmates, including employment assistance, housing, clothing, health care and cash.

Distinguished Miami Herald reporter, Andres Oppenheimer, looks at the stagnant economic growth in Latin America and wonders why there is no growing prosperity. In his travels, he has spoken to presidents of many countries and examined political, cultural and economic background of countries that have been successful – China, Ireland, Poland, Greece, Portugal, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Singapore . He reminds me of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations in his examination of what conditions lead to wealth creation. When I studied economic development in the late 1960s and early 1970s at the University of Texas at Austin, I found lots of theories. Some economists looked at psychological and cultural impediments. Mr. Oppenheimer and others debunk the dependency theory – which the wealthy nations are in a conspiracy to keep the poor countries poor.

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NCR Book Club

Reviewed by Bob Zyskowski
Catholic News Service

Faith at the Edge: A New Generation of Catholic Writers Reflects on Life, Love, Sex and Other Mysteries, edited by Angelo Matera Ave Maria Press, 2008. 193 pages. $15.95.

Why do people think differently from you about religion?

Why do some who call themselves believers not seem to believe things you believe?

Cradle Catholics who have never had a crisis of faith, never gone through a time when they didn’t go to church wouldn’t seem to have any use for a book like Faith at the Edge, edited by Angelo Matera.

This collection of commentaries is targeted for those seeking something to believe in or perhaps a spiritual home in which to land.

It contains nuggets of wisdom, insights into the mystery of God that will nurture the faith of those looking for a place to call home as well as those who long ago found a faith where they belong.

The Peace Pulpit by Bishop Gumbleton	Sunday, May 18, 2008
Homily Archives	Weekly Homily

We celebrate, as you know, today, the feast of the Holy Trinity, probably the most profound mystery of our faith. It may surprise you, but this doctrine of the Holy Trinity, as we have come to learn it, probably most of us when we studied our catechism, how God is one God in three persons - there's one nature, three persons in God - but that reformulation of this doctrine did not happen until the fourth century at the Council of Nicaea in the year 325. It's the first time the Church officially taught that our God is a God who lives in a community of love, one God in three persons.