The Internet, email, Twitter, Facebook, mobile phones and IPods are creating a major cultural phenomenon in society. And this is happening almost overnight. Black and white television broadcasting began in the United States on July 1, 1941.

From the Zoot Suits of the 1930's, the goldfish swallowing of the 1940's, to the 1950’s with the Hula Hoop, America has witnessed the rise and fall of many a fad, including bellbottoms, platform shoes, spandex shorts and the dance revolution of the last decade.

An eerie silence has fallen over the recent massacre of Catholics in Baghdad. On the Vigil of All Saints, one hundred and twenty faithful at Mass were worshipping in Baghdad’s Syriac Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Deliverance. Gunmen entered wearing military uniforms.

There is a widely held belief that there is a conflict between college education and faith. In fact, some would say that the more students pursue higher education, the more likely they are prone to abandon their faith.

For many young people, college life marks the transition from adolescence to maturity. College is the time when the young leave the nest and spread their wings, intellectually, spiritually and socially. They learn new ideas and discover the truth about the world and themselves.

Students at Rutgers University turned this past Friday into “Black Friday.” Many of them wore black, mourning the tragic death of a university freshman who ended his life after being bullied by two other students.

Last week, the Tea Party-backed candidate Christine O'Donnell came out ahead over nine-term Rep. Mike Castle in Delaware's Republican Senate primary. Likewise, Tea Party-backed Buffalo businessman Carl Palladino stunned the pundits by winning the GOP gubernatorial primary over the party leaders' pick Rick Lazio.

Many people consider Albert Einstein the smartest man the world has ever known. He revolutionized the way we view space, time, and gravity. Although Einstein was three years old before he began to talk, he was far from being a backward child. By the age of eleven, Einstein was reading about science and philosophy.

Almost two years have passed since President-elect Obama categorized our country’s economic problems as “the worst financial crisis in a century.” During this time, there have been herculean attempts to jump start the economy.

Again and again, the Scriptures speak of God’s people doing evil in God’s eyes. In telling us the early history of Israel, the Book of Judges repeats, like a responsorial refrain, these words seven times: “The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord (Jd 2; 11; cf. also 3:7.12; 4:1; 6:1; 10:6; 13:1).