The reading this Sunday from the Book of Sirach advises us on how to conduct ourselves in order to find favor with God. On the question of how to conduct stem cell research, a federal judge and the Obama administration differ sharply.

“God gives a home to the forsaken; he leads forth prisoners to prosperity,” the psalmist says this Sunday. Thirty-three Chilean miners trapped deep underground August 5 are holding onto hope for their eventual deliverance.

This Sunday’s reading from the Letter to the Hebrew refers in reverent tones to “God the judge of all” and to “the spirits of the just made perfect.” Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York has joined other city leaders in calling on minority youth on Staten Island to exercise better judgment . . .

“The just rejoice and exult before God,” we hear in this Sunday’s psalm. There is little rejoicing in Great Britain this week over news of what appears to have been a grave injustice during the height of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

“There is no question that these farms that are involved in the recall were not operating with the standards of practice that we consider responsible.”

Although about half of U.S. marriages end in divorce, 97 percent of men and 94 percent of women say they believe they have found the right mate.