Saint Paul writes about life and death in this Sunday’s second reading. Crossing the Mediterranean Sea to Europe in rickety, overcrowded boats has become a life-or-death experience for many thousands of migrants from northern Africa fleeing violence and poverty. This year is on track . . .

This Sunday’s gospel challenges our notions of economic justice with its parable of the landowner with unorthodox wage standards. As Scotland went to the polls Thursday to vote on independence, issues of economic justice were front and central. Spending on social welfare, health care, North Sea oil reserves, and taxation all played a part . . .

“The Lord is near to all who call upon him,” affirms the psalmist this Sunday. Responding to calls for aid from desperate West African nations, the Obama administration on Tuesday outlined a dramatic expansion of the American response to the Ebola epidemic. The U.S. will send 3,000 military engineers, medical personnel, . . .

“Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death,” Saint Paul promises in this Sunday’s selection from the Letter to the Philippians, “for to me life is Christ, and death is gain.” Patients near the end of life have much less reason for optimism, according to a report released Wednesday that asserts . . .

"We had a Dalai Lama for almost five centuries. The 14th Dalai Lama now is very popular. Let us then finish with a popular Dalai Lama." 

A survey of 341,000 people found that enjoyment of life fell in early adulthood but began an upward trend in the late 40s and continued to increase until reaching a peak at age 85