Check out these recent articles from around the web:

Averting genocide in the Central African Republic by Philippe Bolopion: “U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon believes that a force of 6,000 to 9,000 U.N. peacekeepers could help bring the Central African Republic back from the brink. With the right equipment and leadership, they would protect civilians from the ill-equipped Seleka and anti-balaka and allow the tens of thousands in unsanitary camps around churches or hiding deep in the bush to return to their villages and rebuild their lives.”

Healing Communities by America: “When Jesus healed a person with mental illness, he not only took away their infirmity but also restored them to the community. We too, as people of faith, can engage in this healing ministry, breaking down barriers and welcoming all as children of God.”

Who was Pierre Favre? by Fr. James Martin, SJ: “Favre was said by St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, to be the man best suited to direct others in the Spiritual Exercises.  But, surprisingly, Favre’s story is not nearly as well known as those of his two famous college roommates, Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier.”

Where Is the Love? by Nicholas Kristof, NY Times: “A Princeton University psychology professor, Susan Fiske, has found that when research subjects hooked up to neuro-imaging machines look at photos of the poor and homeless, their brains often react as if they are seeing things, not people. Her analysis suggests that Americans sometimes react to poverty not with sympathy but with revulsion.”

On Thanksgiving, understanding what gratitude requires by E.J. Dionne: “A genuine sense of gratitude is rooted in the realization that when I think about all that I am, all that I have and all that I might have achieved, I cannot claim to have done any of this by myself. None of us is really ‘self-made.’ We must all acknowledge the importance of the help, advice, comfort and loyalty that came from others.”