“I will hear what God proclaims; the Lord—for he proclaims peace,” the psalmist asserts this Sunday. Middle East Peace negotiators hold their breath this week, hoping a truce will hold and Israel and Hamas will sit down and come up with a plan for lasting peace. Israel and Hamas began indirect talks . . .

This Sunday’s readings suggest we need to look closely and listen carefully to natural wonders for signs of God. For millennia humankind thought comets were ominous portends from God, but modern science has made it possible to look closer. After a 10-year journey, . . .

This Sunday’s gospel recounts how Saint Peter began to sink during his attempt to walk to Jesus on the stormy sea, crying out, “Lord, save me!” Many a gravely ill patient is crying out with similar words as deaths from Ebola stand at 932 in four West African countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) is holding . . .

The reading from the Book of Kings moves us from one calamity of nature to another while Elijah struggles to discover the Lord. Facing a man-made calamity in the form of contaminated drinking water caused by polluted runoff, residents of Toledo, Ohio struggle to cope with a threat to their drinking water . . .

“For me, every plate of food is a gift. And I never take that for granted and when I see someone in a restaurant honoring their gratefulness at my table … it touches my heart.”

According to the United Nations, more than 45 million people around the world are currently displaced by conflicts. That’s the highest number of refugees in 20 years.