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I had the opportunity during a weekend retreat for men in Malvern, Pa., to have a conversation with a retired Pennsylvania State Trooper. He told me two stories that have stuck with me.

I thought Father Dietzen’s column on salvation (CR, June 4) clearly covered not only the chasm between God and man, but also God’s generous gifts to us. In response, Elaine Ireland (CR, June 18) states “if our focus is on our own salvation and our reason for doing for others is to gain that salvation, the life we present to our father in heaven will be tainted by selfishness.”

In the first article on the Year for Priests by Father Thomas R. Hurst, it is stated, “ … the priest offers the one perfect sacrifice of Christ when he celebrates the Eucharist. He speaks and acts in the person of Christ. At the same time, he must offer his whole life as a sacrifice through his service to God and God’s people.”

On Saturday, June 13, I had the privilege of ordaining four men to the priesthood of our local Church, two of whom, as far as we can tell, are the first two immigrant priests of Latino descent to be ordained here for this historic Archdiocese.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Father H. Timothy Vakoc, a Minnesota priest who was reportedly the first Army chaplain to be gravely injured in the Iraq War, died June 20. He was 49.

ROME – Distributing condoms to teens in high schools in the Italian province of Rome trivializes sexuality and neglects the need to teach responsibility and respect, said the papal vicar for Rome.

WASHINGTON – In the wake of the University of Notre Dame controversy involving President Barack Obama delivering its 2009 commencement address, some U.S. bishops and Catholic university presidents are preparing for dialogue aimed at reaching a consensus about speakers on their campuses.