In her column last month, Heather Renshaw wrote this: "While this time of year is jam-packed with more nutty goodness than Auntie Gen’s famous fruitcake, Holy Mother Church, in her wisdom, encourages us to observe one day at a time by following the liturgical calendar."

Well, we heard from Aunt Gen.

The United States can hardly be faulted for lack of generosity to the people of other countries and even to illegal immigrants. However, there is a limit. If we love our country and want to preserve our way of life for ourselves and our children, though, how is this immoral? 

As women religious who have always sought to advocate for powerless and marginalized people, we are compelled to stand with Sisters throughout the world — including here in the U.S. — who have been victims of sexual violence and abuses of power by clergy, or anyone else.

Let us be mindful of many verses of Sacred Scripture that Our Lord wants us - to seek Him.

Some contend that the national Catholic Charities leader, when in Portland, lied about migrants and refugees, when she said, “They had no alternative. They had to run for their lives.” I rather wonder at such critics’ notion of the social teaching of the Catholic Church.

The basic premise of country and immigrant has reversed. Think of one who has a home and family who invites guests. The home and family are the core. Since when do the guests take over the home?

We are hearing the voice of young people — the students who have experienced school shootings — because not only their dignity but their very lives are in jeopardy. It is the adults, especially those in the church, whose voices are muted and muffled.

We are all God’s children. God hears the cry of the children and their parents. Do we? It is time to listen, stand up and speak out.

John Kingery

This dictate has taken our God of abundance, who fed the crowds with five loaves and two fish so they wouldn’t go away hungry, to a God of scarcity.

In Mexico, Cinco de Mayo commemorates the successful ousting of the French incursion, a struggle for independence, a defeat of the European powers and a reversal of the conquest of Mexico.