The psalmist’s plea this Sunday for the Lord’s assistance in time of trouble is answered: God promises to be there in periods of distress. Democratic leaders were troubled and distressed this week when popular Democratic Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana announced he would not seek reelection this year because of the rancor and partisanship in Congress.

Saint Paul’s assertion in the Letter to the Romans that “there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all” was controversial at the time. A new survey designed to measure attitudes of “Catholic millennials” (American Catholics under 30) reveals that they hold some rather controversial positions.

Moses reminds the people in this Sunday’s first reading that before the Lord led them out of Egypt they had “lived there as an alien.” A rarely seen 400-year-old map of the world drawn by another “alien,” Italian missionary Matteo Ricci, S.J., is on display through April at the Library of Congress.

We hear in the gospel this Sunday that when Jesus was led into the desert the devil tried to tempt him with promises of glory. This fortnight athletes from around the world compete for Olympic glory in Vancouver, Canada. Not all is triumph, however; before the Games opened, tragedy struck when a Georgian luger died during a training accident.

Awaiting the joy of Easter Resurrection, Catholics will recall Christ’s Passion during Lent. Some two million people are expected to view the Shroud of Turin, Jesus’ purported burial cloth, when it goes on public display for the first time in 10 years, Turin officials said Wednesday.

“She likes to watch TV. We have dinner together at the hotel and watch Animal Planet.”

In 2050 life expectancy in the U.S. will exceed government estimates by as many as 8 years, a MacArthur Foundation study has found. Life expectancy for women will reach 89.2 to 93.3 years and 83.2 to 85.9 years for men.