April 2012

Vol. 77, No. 4

Cover

Where 20,000 or 30,000 are gathered…

By Jeff Parrott
With a growing trend toward giant parishes, Catholics in super-sized communities are finding ways to avoid getting lost in the crowd.

Photo story

Though the mountains may fall

Text by Kyle T. Kramer
Photos by Paul Corbit Brown
Cheap coal is taking its toll not only on the decapitated mountains of Appalachia but on the demoralized people of the region as well.

Sounding Board

Not our cup of tea

By John Gehring
The Tea Party is serving a bitter brew for the poor, and Catholics concerned about the common good should send their regrets. In Feedback readers consider how to RSVP.

Interview

Help yourself

An interview with psychologist Robert Wicks
If you’re worn out from taking care of others, it may be time to remember the second (and equally important) part of Jesus’ command to love your neighbor.

Essays

(Essays, short stories, and poems are not available online.)

Did the Jesus man die?

By Brian Doyle
Good Friday tells a story that never gets old, especially when you start telling it to the very young.

I will follow him

By Emily Dagostino
It took the zeal of a newly converted husband to drag and uncommitted agnostic back to Easter faith.

Poem: Painter

By Sarah Brown Weitzman

Practicing Catholic: Be quiet

By Bryan Cones
Eight days of silence is hard for a chatterbox, sometimes it’s better to let God do the talking.

Departments

Editors’ Note

You May Be Right (Letters to the Editor)

Signs of the Times (News)

Catholic Tastes (Humor)

Culture in Context: Music, book, and film reviews

Glad You Asked: Who decided which books made it into the Bible?

At Home with Our Faith  (Family spirituality)

Eye of the Beholder (Art meditation)

Columns

The Examined Life: Kids these days…
By Bryan Cones

Margin Notes: Down and out of sight
By Kevin Clarke

Culture in Context: Let them eat cupcakes
By Patrick McCormick

Testaments: Rise to the occasion
By Alice Camille