Recent Reads by Alumni Authors

Be sure not to miss these recent articles by alumni writers:

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  In Crisis, K. E. Colombini (’85) ponders The Future of Ownership in a digital society where, paradoxically, an increasing number of goods are now immaterial, and yet our homes are bursting with ever-more possessions. “Lacking in the vast majority of these discussions in the mainstream media is the spiritual side of the equation,” he writes. “Even in talking about the benefits of minimalism, we often take a secular approach. By shedding our possessions, we become liberated from them, freer to travel and spend our money elsewhere. If there’s anything ‘tiny houses’ are built for, it’s not for large families, nor for entertaining and showing hospitality to large groups.” In a consumerist society, he asks, “What should be our relationship with our possessions? Do they own us, or do we own them?”

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  Also in Crisis, alumnus architect Erik Bootsma (’01) writes about the newly dedicated Sacred Heart Cathedral in Knoxville, Tennessee — a hopeful sign, he says, that Restoring Sacred Architecture Will Reaffirm Theological Truth. “The richness of the architecture of the new cathedral points to and beautifies the sanctuary,” Mr. Bootsma argues, and that is key to both architectural and theological renewal. “The sanctuary, which took its form from the Holy of Holies, does not just symbolize the past, but is a conscious prefigurement of the Heavenly City to come and Christ’s eternal presence. We begin to understand, too, that God was present in earlier times, in the Temple, and will be present in heaven, but also that he is present now.”

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  Finally, in the National Catholic Register Sophia (Mason ’09) Feingold considers What “Forgive and Forget” Really Means — and finds the oft-dispensed maxim wanting. “To forgive and to forget are not the same thing,” she observes. “The judge who sentences a man to life in prison has not necessarily refused to forgive him; he has simply determined that the prisoner’s character requires remediation, or society protection. The parent who sends a child to their room to ‘think about’ the nasty thing they said to Aunt Jessica is not necessarily unforgiving; they genuinely want their son or daughter to take five and come to a child’s-level understanding of how their words were hurtful. Forgiveness and punishment can and do coexist. Otherwise the Catholic doctrine of purgatory would be risible on the face of it.”