Exploring themes such as the harm caused by vengeance and the healing possible through forgiveness, the Sunday readings are tailor-made for the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. PrepareTheWord and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops provide a number of useful resources . . .

“Whether we live or die, we are the Lord's,” Saint Paul proclaims in this Sunday’s reading from the Letter to the Romans. Burdened by high costs and falling revenues, the United States Postal Service is teetering . . .

“The challenge” on this 10th anniversary of 9/11 “is to present Jesus' call to live in the land of reconciliation and forgiveness as a truly courageous and difficult path,” counsels this week’s “Who’s Listening?” reflection for PrepareTheWord . . .

In instructing his listeners to forgive one another generously in this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus tells a parable of a debtor who owed a "huge amount” to a king and "had no way of paying it back.” That pretty much sums up the state of affairs for the national treasury . . .

“He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.”

Since August 2008 state and local governments in the U.S. have shed 611,000 jobs, including 340,000 in the past 12 months.