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It seemed unusual to me that “Annie” was alone as she pushed open the door to the funeral home and struggled to climb onto the bench to sit beside me.

“Is Christ here or not?” Jarred by the sudden and insistent voice as I exited the church, I looked up, turned, and found a woman standing beside me. She said, again, “Is Christ here or not?”

The story is told of a wise professor who constantly probed the knowledge of his class by asking questions and seeking responses. It would not be uncommon for the professor to ask a student to explain a concept. On one occasion when the professor posed a question to a student, the student began a response by saying, “The way in which you should understand this is.” The professor interrupted the student, “The way I should understand? I assure you, I already understand. Give an explanation in a way that others may understand.”

A singular joy of ministry as bishop is the opportunity to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation. Here the bishop is the immediate instrument God uses to pour out His Spirit upon His people as He did with tongues of fire on the disciples at Pentecost. In the sacrament, God offers the gift of the Spirit to strengthen His people for their service as disciples.

I find it hilarious when you offer something to a person and mention “its free.” People stop what they’re doing, heads turn, they come for a closer look. It could be a rotten potato but you will probably get some takers.

NEW ORLEANS – Speakers at a New Orleans conference on disaster relief and preparedness May 29 and 30 lauded the efforts of faith-based organizations in leading Gulf Coast recovery efforts in the two and a half years since Hurricane Katrina.

When Gov. Martin J. O’Malley signed two domestic partnership bills into law last month, many pro-marriage advocates believe he put Maryland on a path toward the inevitable legalization of same-sex marriage. It’s a course they worry will lead to the degradation of traditional marriage and the weakening of societal values unless citizens stand up to stop it.

The Catholic Review won 10 awards for excellence in journalism and advertising from the Catholic Press Association during the Catholic Media Convention, held May 28-30 in Toronto.

Each year at the conclusion of the Maryland General Assembly’s 90-day session, a list of the session’s “best-sellers” – the bills most inquired about by the general public – is published by the Legislative Services Department. This session’s best-sellers include two measures which add a new term to our health and tax laws: “domestic partners.” The term refers to any two people who are not related by marriage or blood, who affirm they are in a “relationship of mutual interdependence,” and who demonstrate their interdependence by jointly renting a car, leasing an apartment, or opening a checking account. Same-sex couples can claim the designation; so can unmarried opposite-sex couples.