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NCR Columns

A child plays with a balloon Nov. 13, 2016, in Douma, Syria. In previous years, sanctions by the United States denied industrial parts to Syria and crippled its airline industry. (CNS/Reuters/Bassam Khabieh)

From Where I Stand       NCR       1/6/2022

The spiritual scorecards of the last month are, at best, distressing.

NCR Column on Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit

From Where I Stand       NCR     November 11, 2021

The choice between happiness and reward: Blessed are the poor in spirit by Joan Chittister

From Where I Stand       NCR     October 21, 2021

Blessed are the meek — saving the tradition

From Where I Stand     NCR      September 30, 2021

The Beatitudes revisited: a template of the good life

From Where I Stand    NCR    September 9, 2021

I once heard a story that used to make me laugh.

Masks, vaccines, and rights in the land of freedom and liberty

From Where I Stand  NCR  July 29, 2021

Benedictine options: an escape or an experience of essence

Great cultural change — the kind that upends our social givens — always spawns division.

A discarded plastic bottle floats in the Anacostia River in April 2020, near Bladensburg, Maryland.

From Where I Stand  June 10, 2021   NCR

Journalism in the United States is more a drumbeat than a narration.

Important stories come in one of two types:

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney receives a safety brief before departing on a 37th Helicopter Squadron UH-1N Huey Feb. 10, 2017, at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming.

From Where I Stand  May 20, 2021  NCR

People attend Mass at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney.

From Where I Stand  April 29, 2021 NCR

Over the years, we have begun to discover some differences between Jesus and the church: Jesus has credibility.

A worshipper wears a face mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on Holy Thursday in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem's Old City April 1.

From Where I Stand  April 8, 2021 NCR

Lent is not about giving up our adult candy or immersing ourselves in pain. Lent is about being honest with ourselves, changing what needs to change in our lives, making our world a better place and growing into the Light.

From Where I Stand  March 17, 2021  NCR

This is going to be a COVID-19 kind of Lent, and that may be one of the best things that ever happens to our spiritual lives. 

Person holding a black mask.

From Where I Stand  9/17/2020 NCR

They call it a "pandemic," meaning occurring all over the world, all around the globe. Horrible. Overwhelming. Heart-stopping.