January 2018 Issue

The Incarnation of the Word of God took place in the land of Israel (also known as Palestine) 2,000 years ago.

Now that the word “saint” has been attached to Elizabeth Seton, some Catholics might be conjuring up a gauzy image of an ethereal woman. But this country’s first native-born saint shatters that stereotype. Elizabeth was nothing if not intensely human, her holiness rooted in her wholeness.

Kiana Carter was a youthful first-time mom. Her husband, Artrez, had the same optimistic credentials. They were excited, but the obstetrician cut a wide swath of alarm into their anticipation.

“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” You could say that quote from Dr. Seuss summed me up when I was growing up. To say I had a very individual style is an understatement.

Wonder Ten-year-old August “Auggie” Pullman (Jacob Tremblay) has been homeschooled his entire life because of Treacher Collins syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects his hearing, sight, and appearance.

We hear all sorts of statistics about the closing and merging of parishes, the crisis of priestly vocations, the shrinking of religious orders. Those things are happening, but there’s new life brewing too. Ask a young or new Franciscan today about the future, and you hear a lot of hope.

Editor’s Pick: Best Album of 2017 Arcade Fire | Everything Now Montreal’s Arcade Fire has always made music that sounds and feels urgent, almost as if the day they recorded the song was the last day on earth.

Forty-five years after the US Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion, the pro-life movement has a lot more on its plate.