Check out these recent articles from around the web:

Papal Economics by Anthony Annett: “When the likes of Busch and the Koch brothers talk about ‘free markets,’ they are not really talking about the market as mode of cooperation for mutual benefit. Rather, they are peddling an ideology of self-interest designed to push the economic system toward one extreme, which deviates from the core principles of Catholic social teaching. They claim to oppose collectivism, but their laissez-faire individualism actually mirrors its errors—both ‘rocks of shipwreck’ threaten human dignity.”

Confessions of a Lenten slacker by Mathew Schmalz: “Giving, as opposed to giving up, can be a powerful way during Lent to call attention to the gift that Jesus Christ freely gives us all. But giving and giving up aren’t mutually exclusive propositions — especially if they are done in an appropriately reflective and discrete way.”

The digital world is warmer than you think. Here’s how social media builds empathy by Elizabeth Tenety: “A typical Facebook user, “has more close friends; has more trust in people; feels more supported; and is more politically involved,” compared to non-social media users and those who use the site infrequently, the Pew Research Center has previously found. Contrary to the popular narrative, even many younger Americans see social media as a place where they find meaning.  A 2013 study found that teenagers often feel that social media helps them to deepen their relationships with others.”

Ever a writer, Sister Mary Ann Walsh finding new voice in new role by Patricia Zapor: “Over her 50 years in religious life, Sister Mary Ann Walsh’s job titles have varied — teacher, reporter for a diocesan newspaper, Vatican correspondent and media editor at Catholic News Service, and spokeswoman for the U.S. bishops — but through it all the Sister of Mercy has been, down to her very core, a writer.”

Lessons on Second Chances from My Brother, David Carr by John Carr: “There are losses more profound than an election defeat or the failure of a piece of legislation. When we lose someone who reminds us of what is important and what is not, there are lessons for personal, public and religious life. For me, and apparently many others, my youngest brother, David Carr, was such a person.”

What Realists Get Wrong About Niebuhr by Paul D. Miller: “It is a statesman’s job to lift us above our immediate hour, to remind us of our responsibility to future generations. Global democracy is a distant dream; it would be folly to treat it like an objective to be pursued on a fixed timetable. But even a distant dream is worth sustaining.”

Former inmate helps others re-enter society by Mark Curnutte: “Paid for by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the St. Vincent de Paul Reentry Program takes aim at poverty. Up to 20 percent of the nation’s poverty is caused by its mass incarceration system and the laws and stigma that follows ex-offenders when they try to get jobs, places to live and loans and even when they try to vote, according to a 2014 National Academy of Sciences report requested by the U.S. Department of Justice and other organizations.”

Ukrainian Catholic leader urges pope to be tougher on Russia by Inés San Martín: “Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk said on Monday that a Feb. 4 statement from Francis, in which he called the conflict between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatists ‘fratricidal,’ was ‘particularly painful for all the people in Ukraine.’”

Catholic bishops urge Iowa lawmakers to increase minimum wage by Rod Boshart: “Bishops from Catholic Church dioceses in Iowa took on the role of lobbyists Tuesday in urging state legislators to approval a boost in the state’s minimum wage.”