St. Francis of Assisi Parish

Pencil Preaching for Sunday, January 24, 2021

Every morning after her prayers, and the first of many mugs of Barry's Irish tea, Nancy Stewart decides where to go to Mass. The 107-year-old and her granddaughter, Louise Coghlan, 37, settle in, pick a place and log on.

Book review: Peter J. Thuesen researches storm survivors' gratitude for divine providence through the ages and across religions in an examination of the American struggle with the problem of theodicy — why does a good God permit evil?

Scripture for Life: Metanoia springs from a vision of how God's future is breaking into the present. It is a faith-filled certainty that communion with God and all of creation is the ultimate storyline and meaning of history.

"In Assisi, city of peace, we rejoice for the notable step toward world peace made today with the coming into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons," Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino said in a statement.

Hank Aaron, who was baseball's home run king for 33 years, defied racism to make his mark in the game he loved. Aaron died Jan. 22 at age 86.

Undoing the last administration's rollbacks of environmental regulations won't be easy — and will fall short of the action needed now.

President Joe Biden will revoke the so-called "Mexico City policy," which blocks U.S. funding of foreign organizations that perform and promote abortion as a form of family planning.

The first comprehensive internal inquiry on sex abuse allegations by a religious order in Spain has identified 81 children and 37 adult victims by 96 Jesuits since the late 1920s.

Commentary: The Biden and Harris families began one of the most important days of their lives with a Mass intentionally not for public display. The music, readings and prayer texts chosen also reveal much and give us a glimpse into the heart of the man elected to lead the nation.