A sub-category of News.
Above: the famous Zalate tree of Colima. An ancient tree of great renown – considered a relic by Revolutionaries – stood proudly in the town of Colima. For at the base of that Zalate tree – a gnarled, twisted rock fig – the newly enthroned Mexican President Benito Pablo Juárez Garcia (1806-72) once rested in…
Cliffe Knechtle, the Yale-educated pastor, recently sat across from Tucker Carlson. The conversation, though wide-ranging, sharpened on one theme: moral relativism. Knechtle said what many already sense: relativism is on the rise, and our culture is increasingly allergic to moral absolutes. He lamented it, but he didn’t go nearly far enough. Carlson prodded, Knechtle nodded,…
From the Minneapolis shooter drawing a picture of himself staring into a mirror with his reflection not human but a beast with horns, to the recently resigned senior physician at the Centers for Disease Control proudly displaying photos of himself on social media dressed in full sadomasochistic leather regalia with the same horned demonic image…
For decades, many assumed technology would accelerate secularization. People feared that artificial intelligence, in particular, would be the cold instrument of a transhumanist future, erasing the last remnants of faith. Yet, ironically, AI is now functioning as an apologist for God. A recent exchange between British atheist Alex O’Connor (“Cosmic Skeptic”) and ChatGPT, later reviewed…
A blast is heard from up the Bayou Teche, from the direction of Leonville, Cecilia, or Breaux Bridge. Then comes the ring of a far-off bell, barely heard through the cattails and wall of cicadas, crickets, and katydids. The tolling rolls down the waterway clear and rhythmic, like the echo of an evening train passing…
I was living my best Catholic life. Thanks to a powerful encounter with the Lord, I went from a “check-the-box faith” to an all-in, sign me up, on-fire disciple of Jesus. From Catechist to VBS, I gave my “yes” to everything, but my church involvement peaked when I introduced a women’s Bible study to our…
Above: the Vatican News photo of the meeting. According to America magazine, with help from the confirming Vatican News photos, Pope Leo met privately with Fr. James Martin for 30 minutes as part of the Outreach Jubilee pilgrimage. America gushed that this meeting “is seen in Rome as a public reaffirmation of support for the…
In these latter days of this Information Age, we find ourselves in a world that is not so much “brave” or “new” as it is bland and repetitive. Because modern man has, in many cases, not yet found God, he is perpetually restless, waiting around for the “next big thing.” Given this sociological climate, it…
I’ll never forget the day a student pointed a handgun at my dad’s face, back when he was principal of Bishop Neumann High School in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. I was too young to be a student, so I wasn’t there, but the drama of that terrible morning was burned into the collective memory of the whole…
In moments of tragedy, it has become almost instinctive for politicians, celebrities, and public figures to declare that they are offering “thoughts and prayers” to the afflicted. The phrase has become so common that it has lost its force. In many circles, it has even become a target of ridicule—critics accuse it of being a…
