Our Guest Columnists Columns
The Georgia Bulletin features guest columns and spiritual reflections from laypeople and clergy from the archdiocesan community.
Our Guest Columnists
“Pilgrimage an inspiration to better serve God’s people”
BY BISHOP BERNARD E. SHLESINGER IIIEnglish
Having lived in Rome for four years (1992-1996) as a seminarian, the return to Rome for the “ad limina” visit was somewhat of a homecoming.
Previous Columns by Our Guest Columnists
Accompany those in need with CRS Rice Bowl program
“Go forth, the Mass is ended.” In Latin, the dismissal is rendered as “Ite, missa est.” Far from a terse command to make way for those attending the next Mass, it is an instruction to engage in the missionary life of the church.
By JAYNA HOFFACKER, CommentaryPublished: February 20, 2020
Making it a great Lent
Activities in the church have high attendance, even during troubled times. Large crowds still come out on Ash Wednesday to receive the penitential anointing with ashes.
By FATHER JOHN KIERAN CommentaryPublished: February 6, 2020
Mother Teresa and my 23-year journey
It was on a most auspicious day on June 12, 1995 that Gretchen Keiser, then-editor of The Georgia Bulletin, and I waited in silent expectation on a private tarmac of Hartsfield Atlanta Airport for the arrival of Mother Teresa.
By LINDA SCHAEFER, Special to the BulletinPublished: January 23, 2020
About the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
Once again the prayer of Jesus “that they be one” (Jn 17:21) is revisited, repeated and celebrated during the fourth week of January. The worldwide prayer time, the International Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, was developed by Father Paul Wattson, SA, in Garrison, New York, and first observed Jan. 18-25, 1908.
By FATHER JOHN KIERAN, CommentaryPublished: January 9, 2020
Connections to Christmases past
There is an angel, a snowman, a small present, clothespin Santas. Hardly an explosion of blinking, glowing Christmas cheer, but this collection of simple wooden ornaments is both my connection to Christmas past and a measure of the passage of time.
By MAUREEN SMITH, CommentaryPublished: December 26, 2019
Iraqi-born Christian remains hopeful, despite separation from family
Many are aware of the crisis in the Middle East, where Christians are persecuted. However, it is rare to hear the voice of someone who has first-hand experience of these tragic events. Landy Youkhana, who was born in 1985 and raised in Baghdad, now lives in Atlanta. He came to the United States as a college student.
By MSGR. RICHARD LOPEZPublished: December 12, 2019
Building blocks for thriving parishes
What Amazing Parish does is provide pastors and their teams with tools to help transform their parish from maintenance mode to a mission-driven culture. It starts with a cohesive leadership team founded on three building blocks: a culture of prayer, a culture of healthy teamwork and a culture of active discipleship.
By ANDREW W. LICHTENWALNER, Ph.D., CommentaryA Catholic canceling of a culture of racism
Father Bryan Massingale, a priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Christian ethicist at Fordham University and author of “Racial Justice and the Catholic Church,” spoke at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology for its Howard Thurman Lecture on Nov. 7.
By ASHLEY MORRIS, Th.M., CommentaryPublished: November 28, 2019
Giving thanks for our veterans
Veterans Day is a time for all citizens to pay respects to those who have served—both the retired and the active, their families and their supporters. It is a time for joyful celebration to honor ones we should not forget.
By FATHER JOHN KIERAN, CommentaryPublished: November 14, 2019
Find your roots in faith: A look into the archives
November is an important month for us this year as our office is gearing up to participate in #iGiveCatholic on Tuesday, Dec. 3. It’s the first time the Office of Archives and Records has joined in the fundraising day, but we’re excited and we have a wonderfully worthy cause in mind—digitizing historic Georgia Bulletin newspapers.
By Angelique M. Richardson, Director of Archives and RecordsPublished: November 14, 2019
A call to action: working against the death penalty
In 2018, Pope Francis revised the Catechism of the Catholic Church to make the death penalty clearly unaccepted. Number 2267 of the catechism now states, “‘the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,’ and (the church) works with determination for its abolition worldwide.
By DEACON RICHARD TOLCHER, CommentaryPublished: October 31, 2019
Don’t let Halloween scare you
Halloween is part of a trilogy of feasts that Christians have for centuries celebrated. The feast itself comes before All Saints’ Day (known as All Hallows’ Day). So the root of Halloween is All Hallows’ Eve, meaning the evening before All Hallows’ Day.
By GREG ERLANDSON, CommentaryPublished: October 17, 2019
A call to action: Use your gifts for Respect Life Month
Local comedian Josh Harris is participating in Respect Life Month by using his unique gifts. Moved by compassion for pregnant moms without hope and for hundreds of babies who are aborted each week in Georgia, Harris has organized a night of clean stand-up comedy “Laughs for Life.”
By JOEY MARTINECK, CommentaryPublished: October 3, 2019
A thousand Notre Dames
The eyes of the world were turned toward Paris with the tragic, accidental burning of Notre Dame Cathedral earlier this year. If only the tragedies of the Christians in the Middle East garnered the same level of attention.
By MSGR. RICHARD LOPEZ, CommentaryPublished: September 19, 2019
Advanced Placement versus dual credit in Catholic high schools
During the month of July, the U.S. College Board released its AP (Advanced Placement) Score Reports. Our Catholic high school administrators and teachers are busy reviewing these examination results as one measure of academic success.
By DIANE STARKOVICH Ph.D, Superintendent of SchoolsPublished: August 8, 2019
A call to action: Live your authentic self
“Cause what if everyone saw? What if everyone knew? Would they like what they saw? Or would they hate it too?” There wasn’t a dry eye in the Fox Theater as these lyrics were belted to the sold-out crowd of the musical “Dear Evan Hansen” this past April. In short, it tells the story of […] English
By JOEY MARTINECK, Special to the BulletinPublished: August 8, 2019
Lessons for earth 50 years after first moon landing
If you were at least 10 years old on July 20, 1969, you will remember your eyes were glued to a black and white television set watching what no one had ever seen before. You will remember the excitement of seeing animation of a lunar module descending toward a first-ever human moon landing.
By TONY MAGLIANO, CommentaryPublished: July 17, 2019
A call to action: Pray for the deaf ministry
The common thread among almost every deaf Catholic is the perspective of growing up deaf in a hearing church. “We always went to Mass, but I didn’t understand anything,” is a commonly expressed feeling. Approximately 90 percent of adult deaf Catholics do not attend Mass due to lack of access.
By KATHY DAYKIN, Special to the BulletinPublished: June 13, 2019
A call to action: Being a spiritual friend to inmates
In Matthew 25:46, Jesus instructs us that whatever we do to the least of our brothers, we do unto him. For me, this is a guiding principle in prison ministry. In my 32 years as an ordained deacon, God called me to prison ministry in a variety of venues and circumstances. Previously, I worked in […] English
By DEACON RICHARD TOLCHER, Special to the BulletinPublished: May 16, 2019