Our Guest Columnists Columns
The Georgia Bulletin features guest columns and spiritual reflections from laypeople and clergy from the archdiocesan community.
Our Guest Columnists
“A call to action: Pray for those struggling with infertility”
BY JOEY MARTINECK, CommentaryEnglish
When Jeanine got married, she had high hopes of being a mother. She and her husband dreamed of being able to hold a newborn of their own. The doctor called it “bad luck” when Jeanine had her first miscarriage. After recovering from the heartache, a second miscarriage followed. Then a third. Why was this happening? […] English
Previous Columns by Our Guest Columnists
A call to action: Open hearts to serving those with disabilities
This is a difficult time of year for me. March is the anniversary month of my son Christopher’s passing and so he is in my every thought. Christopher had a rare genetic disorder. He had multiple, severe disabilities and was medically fragile. His disease caused him to have physical differences that were very noticeable to […] English
By MAGGIE ROUSSEAU, CommentaryPublished: March 22, 2019
A call to action: Social justice as moral imperative
Justice is something we have heard a lot about in recent years. It seems everyone is calling for it in one form or another. We have undoubtedly all asked ourselves—and each other—how justice can have so very many different definitions. Whose justice are we to seek? What is the right thing to do? The body […] English
By JAYNA HOFFACKER, CommentaryPublished: February 25, 2019
A history pop quiz with purpose
I loved to give pop quizzes to my students during my 33 years at St. Pius X High School. One time, to check their understanding of their place in history, I asked them, “Who do you think was president when Father Lopez was born?” They all wrote, “LINCOLN!” In this column, I’d like to give […] English
By MSGR. RICHARD LOPEZ, Special to the BulletinPublished: January 28, 2019
Showing Mercy to Migrants
Through the years I’ve helped initiate sister parish relationships in countries such as Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Haiti. The purpose is to recognize our common humanity, nurture relationships, defend human dignity, work for development and to build up the kingdom of God. In one day’s journey, a person awakens to a different language, culture, sounds […] English
By TOM REICHERT, Special to the BulletinPublished: January 10, 2019
Advent week one: Three traditions to slow you down
Advent, the four-week period preceding Christmas, is a time to slow down as we wait in hopeful expectation for Christ’s coming. It’s a time to take stock of what’s important in our lives, casting away extra commitments and wasted energy we’ve added throughout the year. Here are a few traditions that an individual or a […]
By SHEMAIAH GONZALEZ, Catholic News ServicePublished: November 26, 2018
How much would you forgive?
The nation was shocked when five Amish children in Pennsylvania were murdered in their classroom in 2006. Our shock turned to amazement when one of the grandparents said, “We must not think evil of (the killer).” Another relative explained, “He had problems of the heart.” Retired Pope Benedict XVI described this kind of mercy as […] English
By MSGR. RICHARD LOPEZ, CommentaryPublished: October 4, 2018
Mission Sunday, Oct. 21: A priest’s reflection
From the beginning the Catholic Church has stressed its missionary mandate. In the l960s the Second Vatican Council debated and underscored and reaffirmed our essential purpose: “The Church on earth is by her very nature missionary.” That emphasis continues in our time. The Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith in Rome directs the Church’s […] English
By FATHER JOHN KIERAN, Special to the BulletinPublished: October 4, 2018
A psalm for sexual abuse
I scanned the rows of baby food jars on the shelf, grabbed several in a clattering handful, and tossed them into my cart. The store assistant smiled as she rang me up. “How old is your little one?” she asked. I blushed. “It’s for a friend’s child,” I murmured quickly, fishing through my purse for […] English
By GINA CHRISTIAN, Catholic News ServicePublished: September 20, 2018
‘Why don’t they help us if they are Christians?’
I believe it was in the 1996 Olympics that a local bank refused to cash a check from New Mexico, as they did not do so for “foreign countries.” The embarrassing truth is that in the United States we are often uninformed about peoples and geography. This lack of knowledge is particularly obvious when I […] English
By MSGR. RICHARD LOPEZ, CommentaryPublished: September 6, 2018
All sinners are welcome!
While I was in central Georgia, filming the Flannery O’Connor episode of my Pivotal Players series, I saw a sign on the outside of a church, which would have delighted the famously prickly Catholic author: “All Sinners Are Welcome!” I thought it was a wonderfully Christian spin on the etiquette of welcome that is so […] English
By BISHOP ROBERT BARRON, CommentaryPublished: August 3, 2018
The case for gratitude
The amazing cave rescue of the Thai boys and their soccer coach left me in awe of the many brave people involved in the undaunted efforts made to save those young lives. Expert rescue divers risked their lives; sadly, one gave his own. People came from near and far to the cave site to pray, […] English
By CHUCK AUST, CommentaryPublished: August 3, 2018
The question behind the question
On the afternoon of June 14, a rather spirited, fascinating and unexpected debate broke out on the floor of the USCCB spring meeting in Ft. Lauderdale. At issue was the possibility of reconsidering “Faithful Citizenship,” the 2007 statement of the U.S. bishops on the formation of conscience regarding matters political. A group of bishops, including […] English
By BISHOP ROBERT BARRON, CommentaryPublished: July 5, 2018
A conversation about ‘Humanae Vitae’ may finally be possible
NEW YORK (CNS)—Can one imagine a more difficult year for “Humanae Vitae” (“Of Human Life”) to be heard than 1968? Blessed Paul VI’s encyclical came out just as the sexual revolution was picking up steam, well on its way to becoming a dominant force in Western culture. Contraception was part of a basic right to […] English
By CHARLIE CAMOSY, Catholic News ServicePublished: April 23, 2018
St. Clare and feminism
We might not think that a 13th-century woman could speak to the modern world, but St. Clare of Assisi challenges us. She was a feminist before feminism existed. Clare spent much of her life fighting patriarchy and power to live the Franciscan way. Clare was born in 1194, Clare Offreduccio di Favarone, into a noble […] English
By CAROLYN M. Jones Medine, Catholic News ServicePublished: March 23, 2018
The Oblate Sisters of Providence: An American story
In observing Black History Month in February 2018, examining the early history of the Oblate Sisters of Providence can teach us several important lessons. The sisters proved exceptional in 19th-century America: They were black and free in a slave society that privileged only whiteness, female in a male-dominated society, Roman Catholic in a Protestant society, […] English
By DIANE BATTS MORROW, Catholic News ServicePublished: March 12, 2018
Where is the support of human rights?
Did you know? The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution states in part, “nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” The fact that the law does not protect children in the womb […] English
By MSGR. HUGH MARREN, CommentaryPublished: February 28, 2018
Christ: Light of the world and Prince of Peace
The highlight of Christmas, for me, is hearing the reading from Isaiah (9:1-6) proclaimed at the Mass during the night: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.” The absence of daylight streaming in through the windows reinforces the […] English
By NANCY DE FLON, Catholic News ServicePublished: December 21, 2017
Know your faith: Surrender, and receive
As nearly any of their Christmas shopping lists would suggest, parents know all about surrendering wants and desires—primarily, their wants and desires—for the sake of their children. Going “without,” or with less, is part and parcel of “surrender.” In the context of faith, we—as Catholic disciples—believe that we are called to surrender to God’s will, […] English
By MIKE NELSON, Catholic News ServicePublished: December 7, 2017
Blessed are you … rejoice and be glad
This is the tenth column in a 10-part series. “Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you (falsely) because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Mt 5:11-12 It […] English | En Español
By CACKIE UPCHURCH, Director, Little Rock Scripture Study