In this Sunday’s first reading Moses teaches Joshua that the Spirit of God cannot be controlled. “God’s prerogative is to bestow the Spirit wherever and whenever,” as Alice Camille says in this week’s "Exploring the Word." Religious believers throughout the world, however, face a rise . . .

Untroubled by outsiders invoking his name to do good deeds, Jesus points out in this Sunday’s gospel that no one who speaks ill of him will be able to use his name to accomplish anything of merit. Catholic website managers concerned that meritless advertisements . . .

The accumulation of worldly riches comes in for heavy criticism in Sunday’s reading from the Letter of James. Many consumers today have a similarly low opinion of banks, especially as ATM fees hit record highs and free checking accounts become harder to find. The financial research firm Bankrate.com . . .

“The law of the Lord is perfect” and “the decree of the Lord is trustworthy,” the psalmist assures us this Sunday. New voting laws in 23 states, though, raise questions of fairness and have researchers wondering whether more than 10 million Hispanic U.S. citizens will be disenfranchised this election year. The new laws include purges of people . . .

“We are given a family's child to teach. We're given their most precious resource, their child. And our job is to send them out better than when they walk through the door.”

A new International Monetary Fund paper says large economies can have "too much finance" and that the U.S. banking industry is adding nothing to economic growth. In addition, a New York University study suggests people in finance are being paid anywhere from 30 to 50 percent more than they're worth.