“How long, O Lord?” is the plaintive cry of the frustrated prophet in this Sunday’s first reading. Witnessing the behavior of a combative U.S. Congress unable to resolve a budget showdown that has shuttered many government agencies . . .

The psalmist this Sunday urges us to “sing joyfully to the Lord” and to “come into his presence with thanksgiving.” President George Washington urged a similar spirit of thanksgiving in his 1789 proclamation establishing the first Thanksgiving . . .

"Increase our faith," the apostles implore Jesus in this Sunday’s gospel. Contemporary American Jews apparently aren’t terribly concerned about questions of Jewish faith or religious practice, according to a new study . . .

God gives us "a spirit . . . of power and love and self-control,” says the reading from 2 Timothy this Sunday. Leaders of the black community of Montgomery, Alabama, working with the police department and local churches, hope to inculcate those values in troubled youth by way of Operation Good . . .

“To celebrate them together is a sign of appreciation of the holiness of two popes who paid witness to our time.”

According to U.S. government statistics, the number of American killed in all wars since 1775 is 1.17 million. The number killed by firearms since 1968, including suicides, is 1.38 million.