McGrath Institute Blog

This Ash Wednesday, here are three brief, thought-provoking articles that will hopefully help you enter more intentionally into this season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

February 1 marked the beginning of Black History Month, an annual observance honoring African Americans and recognizing their importance in American history. This year’s celebration is especially important due to the continued prominence of racism and the national failure to make tangible progress with regard to race relations, especially in the treatment of African Americans. 

This past Friday marked the 48th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in America. This coming Friday marks the 48th annual March for Life, a rally that upholds the sanctity of human life from conception through natural death and protests the tragedy of abortion. While the March for Life is traditionally a large-scale event held in Washington, D.C., due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year it will consist only of a small group of leaders in the pro-life movement, with the rest of the country invited to participate virtually in the national rally.

We asked Dr. Shannen Dee Williams of Villanova University to describe how Black Catholic History Month developed, to share ideas on how to learn more about the stories and experiences of Black Catholics in America, and to offer insights, especially to non-Black Catholics, on how to confront the scourge of racism.

Throughout the country today, ballots will be cast. Votes will be counted. With all of the mailed-in and absentee ballots, we may not know the results for days, but today marks an end of sorts: an end to the election cycle for the time being. And yet, the aftershocks of this seismic event will continue to rumble, the waves continue to ripple out from the point of impact for the next several weeks, months, even years.