My brother was in line at a local supermarket when he observed a young woman strike up a conversation with an apparent longtime friend. Showing off her slightly protruding belly, the younger woman announced that she was pregnant.

Hermits lead an intense prayer life.

Gaul, 72, died Oct. 18, after a nearly yearlong battle with cancer. He worked at the Catholic Review beginning as a writer in 1995 before becoming associate and then managing editor. He had also produced and hosted Catholic News Radio and Catholic Review TV.

Mercy Sister Lois Mueller was a bundle of energy when I first met her at The Villa retirement home in Baltimore three years ago. I was visiting for a story I was writing about how retired nuns kept in shape by playing bowling and other Nintendo Wii video games donated by students of St. Joseph School in Cockeysville.

Father Mark Stewart Bullock, former associate pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Towson, was sentenced Aug. 22 to probation and will not serve any jail time after pleading guilty to a single charge of indecent exposure, according to a Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services spokesman.