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In my column last week, “Shall We Dance?” I wrote about the just and necessary role that laws play in our lives. From the Ten Commandments to the moral teachings of our Catholic faith, we are better, our society is better, I suggested, for having divine guidance in these matters. I then posed the question: Why then do we view laws with such cynicism and such reluctance? By contrast, in the days of Moses when the earliest representation of law is found in the Bible, the Jewish people not only accepted the vast and sweeping number of laws that governed their daily lives, they embraced them as gifts from God, causing them to dance in the streets with grateful joy. Why can’t we, like David, see God’s providential will in the laws passed down through His Church which seek to protect our society from the sins which would destroy it – including those which threaten the sacred institution of marriage, the very life-giving fabric of our society?

Sandra, as many Hispanic people we find in American streets and workplaces, has a heroic story of faith and courage that is worthwhile to be shared. Her adventure started in her Central American country, when she found out that she was pregnant. Her partner, who mistreated her physically and emotionally, instead of being happy with the news, beat her and told her that maybe the baby wasn’t his. Her maternal love gave her the strength to finally escape from this destructive relationship. The safest thing to do was, with God’s help, trying to reach her cousin, who was working in a restaurant in the United States. With her cousin’s help she could maybe find a job to save her life and her baby’s life.

Back to school? Were we out?

We’ve all been thrilled in recent days with Michael Phelps’ pursuit of Olympic gold. We applaud his character and focus.

St. Peter Claver Parish can rightfully be called “The Mother Parish” of west Baltimore African-American Catholics. Founded in 1888 by the Mill Hill Josephite Fathers, this church, specifically for African-Americans, was the first of its kind in West Baltimore.

They call him Recycle Sam, although his name is Ross. The pastor of St. Casimir, Canton, earned the nickname for encouraging his parishioners to recycle.

The sounds of lutes, organs, brass, bagpipes, steel drums and all manner of choral ensembles will fill the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland again this year when the parish hosts its annual Cathedral Music Series.

WASHINGTON – Figures released Aug. 26 by the U.S. Census Bureau revealed that, while the number of Americans in poverty last year rose over 2006 levels, the percentage increase was not statistically significant.