Liguorian Magazine

Catholic. Pastoral. Trusted.

Category: Articles

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Religion in a Culture of Science, Skepticism, and Do-It-Yourself Spirituality

For many people, religion has become like an old grandfather tucked away in a senior citizen’s home. People stop by to see him when they are in town, mostly on Christmas and Easter, and listen to him ramble on about the good old days, but most of what he says does not seem relevant to their modern lives. They kindly pat him on the head before leaving, then quickly forget what he said as they seek their way through this modern world that has passed him by. And if religion in general is out of date, for them, Catholicism is surely irrelevant. Although some religions change and adapt to the world, the Catholic Church with all its traditions is hopelessly stuck in the past.

Archives

“My Pal Big Al”: The Unique Ministry of Fr. Joe Kempf

Fr. Joe and big AlThe big furry blue creature with a gray face and two prominent tusk-like teeth seems to be an unlikely sidekick to a parish priest who was awarded the prestigious Great Preacher Award by Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri, in 2004. But most of the time, wherever Father Joe Kempf preaches, his “ole buddy” Big Al goes too.

Editorial

Liguorian Author Receives NAACP Honor

James and Kathleen McGinnis have been named as two of the 100 Most Inspiring St. Louisans by the St. Louis City NAACP at the June 2009 St. Louis City NAACP Centennial Celebration and Annual Freedom Fund Dinner.   Jim and Kathy McGinnis are long-time educators, authors and activists, and co-founders...

Saints / Holy People

Saint Clement Takes on the World

Readers of Liguorian receive regular doses of information about the Redemptorists and their founder, Saint Alphonsus Liguori. For Alphonsus’ vision of preaching God’s plentiful redemption among the poor to endure, it would require men with a desire to preach and the ability to adjust their preaching and ministry to new eras. The Redemptorists would find such a man in Clement Hofbauer. It was Clement and a few other stalwart souls who were commissioned to spread the faith in a context different from that of the Papal States, where the Congregation was born in 1732. His work attracted the attention of many people in the nineteenth century and eventually led to his canonization in May 1909.

Social Justice

Food Network: Four Ways to Feed the Hungry

Last month Father Stephen Rehrauer described the ethical side of hunger, that we have a moral imperative to feed the hungry. World hunger has reached pandemic proportions. Even in our own wealthy nation it seems to be an unsolvable problem as it affects over 10 percent of the United States.

Social Justice

Can You See God in the Faces of the Hungry?

Human life is a fragile gift, much more fragile than we care to admit. Despite the inspiring stories of rare individuals  forced to endure severe adversities and manage to survive, the more common reality of human experience corresponds to the Rule of Threes: the average human being can survive only three minutes without air, three hours in severe conditions without shelter, three days without water, three weeks without food, and three months without hope.

Social Justice

With Liberty, Justice, and Health Care For All

One of the things that weighs heavily on the family budget is the cost of health care: insurance premiums, co-pays, doctor bills. But for the estimated 47 million Americans without health insurance, the possibility of a family member’s needing major medical care is indeed frightening.

Social Justice

Journey to Justice: A Catholic Vision of Immigration

As a young priest in Denver, Colorado, I was once asked to accompany a family at the graveside of their infant son, who had died during childbirth. I knew only that they were Spanish-speaking and that I would need to perform the ritual in Spanish. I met the family at the small grave; they were a young couple with a four-year-old daughter. No other friends or family were present, which told me that they were recently arrived immigrants. They were poor and alone.

Social Justice

Simple Ways to Help the World: The Practice of Catholic Social Teaching

Dorothy never thought of her hospitality as Catholic social teaching, but she modeled it perfectly. She and her husband, Wally, had the means to build a country home ninety minutes from their suburban St. Louis, Missouri, neighborhood, but they never thought of it as theirs in any exclusive sense. They understood the principle of the common good and shared their country home with anyone who needed space and time away. Local peace and justice groups and Catholic Worker residents, as well as extended family members and friends, treasured it as a place for personal renewal.

Archives

A Leap of Faith: Midlife Career Changes

“I loved my job and had no intention of leaving, but when I saw that ad, I knew it was the job I was meant to have,” Tom Gorski prefaced his remarks about his decision to embark on a second career. Seven years ago at the age of fifty-five, Gorski—who during his thirty years at TWA had moved from the position of ticket agent in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to that of vice president of airport operations in the United States—took a pay cut to become vice president of Catholic Charities in St. Louis, Missouri.