The prayers of the lowly faithful reach God expeditiously, the first reading promises this Sunday. The efforts of the uninsured to work their way through the application process on the government’s new healthcare.gov website, however, have been seriously stymied since its October 1 launch. President . . .

“The Lord hears the cry of the poor,” says the psalm refrain this Sunday. Pope Francis has made it clear that he expects those in church service to be especially attentive to their cry and to live simply in solidarity with them. This week he sent a signal that he means business when he suspended a German . . .

“The time of my departure is at hand,” we hear this Sunday in 2 Timothy. When the time comes, families seeking handmade caskets to bury loved ones are now assured of being able to purchase one from a monastery in Louisiana after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from that state's . . .

A bragging Pharisee is not viewed in a favorable light by Jesus in this Sunday’s gospel story on the value of genuine humility. Nonetheless, a new galaxy viewed through the Hubble Space Telescope can claim bragging rights as the most distant galaxy from Earth—at least for the time being. The galaxy is about 13 billion light-years away from our planet and is helping scientists . . .

“Whatever the reasons for Americans' greater acceptance of marijuana, it is likely that this momentum will spur further legalization efforts across the United States.”

In the next three years the number of people worth at least $100 million is expected to grow between 7 and 24 percent in Western Europe and North America, 60 percent in Latin America, 76 percent in Russia, and 100 percent in China and India.