November 2014

Vol. 79, No. 11

Cover

The healing arts

By Kristen Hannum
New approaches to community building and personal healing paint a surprising picture of the power of art in transforming people’s lives.

Sidebar:

Breaking barriers through performance

Photo story

National treasure

From ornate gothic cathedrals to small, simple structures, the American landscape is filled with an endless variety of Catholic churches. Beyond their beautiful exteriors, each one has a story to tell.

Expert Witness

Awaken your imagination

An interview with Cecilia González-Andrieu
Don’t brush off the importance of art in pointing us to what is beautiful and true, says this theologian. If we keep an open mind, every artist’s creation can draw us closer to God.

Sounding Board

Meet and greet

By Michael Jordan Laskey

Sometimes a friendly handshake is more valuable than a charitable handout to a person battling poverty. In Feedback, readers share their personal encounters with people in need.

Essays

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

Poem: Bus stop

By Judie Rae

Essay: Vetting the saints

By Patrick Gallagher

Many saints were no stranger to the danger of battle, so why don’t veterans have a patron to answer their post-war prayers?

Essay: Poetry in the pub

By Sister Joan Sauro, C.S.J.

In a small Irish pub, patrons pull up a bar stool to hear some of history’s greatest poets come to life.

Wise Guides: Soul train

By James P. Cahill

When life seemed to go off the rails, Walker Percy engineered characters on a search for meaning, purpose, and plenty of bourbon.

Departments

Editors’ Note

You May Be Right (Letters to the Editor)

Signs of the Times (News)

Catholic Tastes (Humor)

Reviews

At Home with Our Faith (Family spirituality)

Eye of the Beholder (Art meditation)

Glad You Asked: Where can Catholics be buried?

Columns

The Examined Life: November to remember
By Father Bryan Massingale

Margin Notes: Race to the polls
By Kevin Clarke

Culture in Context: A price worth paying?
By Danny Duncan Collum

Testaments: The proverbial woman
By Alice Camille