The online editorial staff comprises Betsy Shirley, Jenna Barnett, Josiah R. Daniels, Mitchell Atencio, Heather Brady, Kierra Bennning, and Zachary Lee.
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Voice of the Day: Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Prayer of the Day: Your Holy Tent
Verse of the Day: Psalm 15:1-3
Verse of the Day: Matthew 5:10-12
Prayer of the Day: Light Piercing Darkness
Voice of the Day: Mother Teresa
'A Year of Action:' President Obama's State of the Union Speech
Editor's Note: The following is President Obama's State of the Union speech as prepared for delivery. Read Sojourners President Jim Wallis' statement HERE.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, my fellow Americans:
Today in America, a teacher spent extra time with a student who needed it, and did her part to lift America’s graduation rate to its highest level in more than three decades.
An entrepreneur flipped on the lights in her tech startup, and did her part to add to the more than eight million new jobs our businesses have created over the past four years.
An autoworker fine-tuned some of the best, most fuel-efficient cars in the world, and did his part to help America wean itself off foreign oil.
A farmer prepared for the spring after the strongest five-year stretch of farm exports in our history. A rural doctor gave a young child the first prescription to treat asthma that his mother could afford. A man took the bus home from the graveyard shift, bone-tired but dreaming big dreams for his son. And in tight-knit communities across America, fathers and mothers will tuck in their kids, put an arm around their spouse, remember fallen comrades, and give thanks for being home from a war that, after twelve long years, is finally coming to an end.
Tonight, this chamber speaks with one voice to the people we represent: it is you, our citizens, who make the state of our union strong.
Prayer of the Day: A Glimpse of You
Voice of the Day: Wendell Berry
Verse of the Day: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Verse of the Day: Matthew 4:18-19
Prayer of the Day: God of Love
Voice of the Day: Michelle A. Gonzalez
Voice of the Day: Jürgen Moltmann
Prayer of the Day: The Hope of Life
Verse of the Day: 1 Corinthians 1:17-18
College Debt Factor in Men and Women Entering Religious Life, CARA Survey Finds
Debt from college loans makes some men and women postpone joining a religious community, according to a survey of men and women professing final vows in a religious order.
Ten percent of those who professed final vows in 2013 had an average amount of $31,000 in college debt and the average length of delay was two years, according to “New Sisters and Brothers Professing Perpetual Vows in Religious Life: The Profession Class of 2013.” The annual survey was conducted by the Georgetown University-based Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA).
Read the entire survey here.