This Sunday’s first reading promises that the savior will banish instruments of violence such as the warrior’s bow and declare peace to the nations. On Monday the highest court in the nation ruled that the sale or rental of violent video games to minors cannot be banished . . .

The Lord is “faithful in all his words and holy in all his works,” the psalmist affirms this Sunday. A federal jury came to a much different conclusion about former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich . . .

“My yoke is easy and my burden light,” Jesus promises, inviting all “who labor and are burdened” to come to him. Greek workers are finding new austerity measures passed by the Greek parliament to be a burden . . .

Saint Paul encourages his hearers in the Letter to the Romans this Sunday to focus on the spirit more than the body, reminding them that “we are not debtors to the flesh.” The body still needs tending, however, and for seniors in the U.S. Medicare . . .

“Do we refuse to despair when the economy falls apart, when violence lingers in the news, or when our national leaders display all the moral formation of 2-year-olds? Because that is what our faith requires of us.”

Airlines took in $21.5 billion in add-on fees in 2010, up 38 percent in a year. Meanwhile. the U.S. Dept. of Transportation fined US Airways $45,000 for failing to inform passengers of applicable taxes and fees on one of its international routes.