Featured

Black and white photo of a bronze sculpture depicting a hooded figure with a sorrowful expression holding another smaller figure in their arms against a stone tile background.
Käthe Kollwitz’s Pietà
Also known as “Mother with Her Dead Son,” this sculpture gives expression to the mourning of mothers everywhere, from the Middle East to the Congo. In this way, it draws us into the heart of Jesus’ cryptic beatitude, “Blessed are those who mourn.”
Portfolio
Watercolor painting of hands in handcuffs gripping prison bars from behind.
The Martyrs of Alcatraz
Newly discovered letters from World War I pacifists imprisoned for refusing military service shed fresh light on a long-suppressed chapter of American history – and on the meaning of religious liberty today.
Duane Stoltzfus
Essay
Impressionist-style painting showing two people sitting close with heads touching, surrounded by a colorful abstract background of brushstrokes in pink, green, and earthy tones.
We Are Not Bystanders
An interview with Cardinal Donald Wuerl on discipleship and politics, and on Pope Francis’s advice to pastors (and the rest of us).
Donald Wuerl
Interview
A wooden desk with a green lamp and two chair with blue cushions, next to a large window with white curtains, and a dark wooden cabinet in the background.
Was Bonhoeffer Willing to Kill?

A review of a new book, Bonhoeffer the Assassin? Challenging the Myth, Recovering His Call to Peacemaking questions the assumption that Bonhoeffer renounced pacifism.

Charles E. Moore
Review

Insights

Silhouettes of multiple birds perched on two parallel wires against a colorful textured sky.

Becoming a People

What will happen to our churches if we get serious about the Sermon on the Mount – not just as a discussion starter, but as a roadmap for our life together?

C. Christopher Smith
Essay
Abstract painting of two figures against a blue background; one figure extends an arm holding a glass towards the other, who leans forward.
Alarmed by Jesus
Russell Moore speaks about the increasing relevance of the Sermon on the Mount, testifying to the truth about marriage and the marginalization of Christianity.
Russell Moore
Interview
Red roses with green leaves backlit by the sun against a blurred background of trees.
Love in a Leper Colony
When Damien and Maria made their wedding vows fifty years ago they were under no illusions. A life of poverty compounded by an incurable sickness promised mostly hardship. Today they love each other more than ever.
Johann Christoph Arnold
Essay
Close-up sepia-toned photograph of an elderly woman with visible wrinkles, wearing transparent glasses and resting her chin on her hand, looking slightly upward.
The Hard Work of the Gospel
We pray for an end to war. But unless we combine this prayer with giving to the least of God’s children, and fasting in order that we may help feed the hungry, and penance in recognition of our share in the guilt, our prayer may become empty words.
Dorothy Day
Reading
Blurred red double-decker buses moving fast on a city street lined with historic buildings at dusk, with a few pedestrians on the sidewalk.
Purity in a Porn Age
Even your teenager, safe in his or her bedroom “doing homework,” has the world’s vices just one click, swipe, or tap away. So what can we do? Against this backdrop, how does the two-thousand-year-old teaching of Jesus apply?
Essay

Arts & Letters

Watercolor illustration of a small green dragon with wings breathing fire towards a barefoot child in an orange dress holding a basket.
The Dragon and the Coffee Pot
In a dark forest there lived a terrible dragon. He spat poison, breathed fire, and ate people and animals in a way that was sad to see. Of course, everyone was terrified, but they did not reckon with a little girl and her guardian angel.
Fiction
Impressionist painting showing a person in light clothing sitting alone in a yellow and green rowboat on water with visible reflections and a tree on the right side.
Poem: I Cannot Love What You Are
A translation of Patrizia Cavalli’s poem, "I cannot love what you are," alongside the original Italian text.
Poem
A dense forest scene with tall tree trunks and a narrow dirt path leading into the dark woods surrounded by undergrowth and ferns.
Poem: For One Bereaved
Read a sampling of Jane Tyson Clements poetry that explores the varied emotions of life: love, longing, and loss; memory, sacrifice, and desire; struggle and frustration, joy and resolve.
Jane Tyson Clement
Poem
Still life painting featuring a white vase with a floral design, a black bowl filled with oranges and lemons, and a green pot with tall green stalks, all placed on a colorful patterned tablecloth against a bright yellow background.
Insights on the Sermon on the Mount
Thoughts on putting the great teaching of Jesus into practice from Mother Teresa, Søren Kierkegaard, Henri Nouwen, and John Wesley.
Inklings