A sub-category of News.
These last few Maundy Thursdays, my feed has been populated by various musings presenting Judas as a pitiable figure who may not be in hell after all. I thought it rather diabolical that a day of sympathy for our Lord is now turning into a day of sympathy for His betrayer. But as I considered…
In his Convocation Address at Ave Maria University earlier this academic year, San Francisco’s Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone discussed the significance of Catholic higher education as a “modern solution to guide an age that has lost its way.” Reaffirming Ave Maria University’s commitment to faithful Catholic higher education and her dedication to teaching faith and reason……
Above: St. Peter’s square before the Via della Conciliazione was built in 1936. In the radiant setting of Easter Sunday in 1934, the Church also rejoiced at the elevation to the altars of John Bosco (†1888) by Pope Pius XI (†1939). Among the elements that made this celebration even more memorable, there was the musical…
Above: a photo from Peter Kwasniewski’s first pre-55 Triduum. In the context of meditation, I always thought I would prefer vigils in darkness. It’s easier to establish the compositio loci for a meditation about waiting for the Risen Christ overnight if the church is actually dark and if it’s dark outside. As much as I…
Holy Saturday was different for me this year. It was more real. Most of the country heard and followed the details surrounding the death of New York City police officer Jonathan Diller. During a traffic stop, Officer Jonathan Diller was shot by Guy Rivera. Diller was struck in the stomach below his bullet-proof vest. After…
There’s a new ad airing in several swing states ahead of November, and it has the kind of transcendent power that can shape not only elections but the character of whole nations. The video’s title is “Protect the Vulnerable,” and it’s produced by leading Catholic advocacy group CatholicVote. I won’t spoil the video by dissecting…
The poignant Studio Ghibli film The Wind Rises follows the life of a young Japanese airplane designer, Jiro Horikoshi. His aspiration to create exquisite flying machines for their own sake collides with their intended destiny as war machines. Despite the fact that Jiro pours his youthful creativity into successive models of fighter planes, Japan loses…
I have been seeing ads put out by a conservative organization urging us to protect girls and women who want to play sports but are devastated to realize that they will never be able to compete against biological males—boys declaring themselves to be girls and barging in on the girls’ teams. When we ignore the…
We have looked at the Epistle Reading for Easter Sunday in the past offerings of this column. However, because of present developments in the modern Church, it bears both reviewing and extending. As always, we need contexts. I like to think of the contraption used during eye examinations, the one with various lenses that get…
“This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us be glad and rejoice therein” (Roman Breviary). This is the most excellent day, the happiest day in the whole year, because it is the day when “Christ, our Pasch, has been sacrificed.” Christmas, too, is a joyous feast, but whereas Christmas vibrates with a…
