Arlington Catholic Herald

Pregnancy is supposed to be a time of joy and excitement. Ideally, when a child is on the way, there should be hope, happiness, and a sense of almost endless possibility.

She wasn’t serious, of course — not really. Thérèse Bermpohl, the 48-year-old director of the Office for Family Life, was just doing what she does best: keeping it real.

Six weeks removed from their trip to Haiti, the hands still haunt them. Hands without faces, hands squeezed through a small opening in iron grating, hands reaching out to make contact with anything, anyone on the outside.

Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde marked the 30th anniversary of the death of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen with a Mass at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington last week.

Dan Henninger, whose Wall Street Journal column is aptly titled “Wonder Land,” put it best: “The only good news about the Fort Hood massacre is that U.S. electronic surveillance technology was able to pick up Major Hasan’s phone calls to an al Qaida-loving imam in Yemen. ...

During this Advent season, we are called to await the coming of the Lord with hope-filled anticipation. Many tasks can distract us from this prayerful waiting: for example, deadlines at work, Christmas shopping lists and school exams. ...

The Arlington Diocese’s WorkCamp program will double this year as the Office of Youth Ministry plans on adding an additional week long session to accommodate more volunteers.