We are entering the season of politics. The 2026 elections are most important in determining the future direction the United States will take under its current form of government. Early voting has started in Illinois, and their primary is on 17 March, St. Patrick's day, fitting for Chicago. In an age of cynicism and calculation,... Continue Reading →
How many garbage trucks full of plastic are dumped into the world’s oceans, rivers, and lakes every day?. …By Julie Peller Ph.D.
Green Junction According to the United Nations Environment Program, the equivalent of 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic are dumped into the world’s oceans, rivers, and lakes every day. The surge and growth of the plastic industry have led to more plastic materials being released into the environment as long-lasting plastic garbage. The amount of... Continue Reading →
Strangers in the Global Village: Faith, Media, and Justice for Migrants and Refugees
How can we respond faithfully to immigration in an age of viral images, tribal politics, and 24/7 media? Four unlikely guides—Thomas Merton, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Marshall McLuhan, and Mortimer Adler—offer wisdom for seeing, judging, and acting with justice and mercy. The Ahmed Family’s Arrival Imagine a family—let’s call them the Ahmeds. They could be from any... Continue Reading →
Part Two: The Bridge Merton Built.
Part Two: The Bridge Merton Built: How to Actually Read Catholic Social Teaching Here's what Merton understood that most of us miss: Catholic Social Teaching isn't a textbook. It's a way of seeing. When he read those insightful encyclicals—the ones that make your eyes glaze over in theology/religion class—he wasn't looking for bullet points to... Continue Reading →
The Plastic Crisis: By Julie Peller Ph.D.
Green Junction Nurdles are the plastic pellets made by the polymer industry. Their average diameter is 2-5 mm. The larger ones are similar in size to a pencil eraser. Every year, trillions (or more) of nurdles are shipped from the industries to companies that make plastic items. Large numbers of these small, light-weight pellets are... Continue Reading →
Part One: When the Monk Met the Encyclicals and then Met the Machine.
When the Monk Met the Machine: Thomas Merton, Catholic Social Teaching, and Our Tech-Saturated World We live in a world Thomas Merton never saw—but somehow anticipated. Merton died in 1968, before personal computers, before smartphones, before algorithms decided what we read and AI began writing our emails. Yet his warnings feel more urgent now than... Continue Reading →
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