commeNTARY
20 ways to support loved ones as they grieve the loss of a baby
When people lose infants during pregnancy or shortly after birth, no one seems to know how to respond to the couple’s grief while also celebrating the baby’s life. Here are a few ideas.
Amen: Dying doing what you love
In attempting his 20th crossing June 8, my cousin began having problems about a mile into the swim. Rescuers could not revive him, and he died at age 58. He leaves behind a wife of 31 years.
Babe Ruth’s diamond
One hundred years ago on St. Valentine’s Day, George Herman “Babe” Ruth Jr. began his meteoric rise in professional baseball when he signed a contract with the minor league Baltimore Orioles.
Are they really brothers?
When we adopted our first son, I fielded strangers’ questions about adoption all the time.I assumed that after we adopted our second son, the questions would continue, but I was wrong. When we are out in public, I am so busy keeping my children safe and from damaging their surroundings,
Missing Baby Georgie
For the past few months, ever since my sister and her husband told us they were expecting a baby, my sons have been looking forward to meeting their new cousin.Nothing is more exciting than a new baby, and for our sons, this would be their first cousin living in town,
Remembering a friend
Chris was one of my greatest mentors. I learned more from reading his eloquent prose and sitting next to him at the Catholic Review than I did in any writing course. More than that, he became a friend.
Of haberdasheries and ‘Death Dust’
For years, a tattered and taped copy of the Aug. 30, 1902, issue of The Catholic Mirror has jockeyed for attention on my sometimes-cluttered desk at the Catholic Review.
This Priest Appreciation Day, thank priests who change lives
Father Dale Picarella had just finished greeting a mob of parishioners at the end of Mass when I approached him in the sacristy with a special request. Would he visit my mother at Bayview Medical Center in East Baltimore as she was recovering from cancer surgery?
St. Joseph’s Feast Day: A novena a day keeps the job search at bay
When John and I met, we had jobs that were more than 100 miles—and a two-hour drive—apart. So after we became engaged, we both started job hunting.A friend or family member must have mentioned that St. Joseph was the patron of workers, so I began saying a daily novena to
Pope Benedict XVI offers lesson in humility
The goodness and humility witnessed by the future Baltimore archbishop were on display for all the world Feb. 11 when Pope Benedict XVI quietly announced in Latin that he would step down due to his advanced age and lack of stamina.