A sub-category of News.
I was writing diligently when, during a break, I read a short article by Mr. Phil Lawler on his Substack channel. The title immediately caught my attention: “The exodus of young Catholics. Nine out of ten ‘cradle Catholics’ leave.”[1] We can do as much theology and philosophy as we like, we can read and quote…
As a mining company prepares to start extracting copper from a “sacred” mountain in Arizona, protesters gathered at the site called Oak Flat. Among them was a small group of elderly Catholic nuns who supported an Apache group’s effort to ban the mine. The three-day event in July was a tragic case of what has…
The sun was sinking against two snow-capped volcanoes when Eduardo Verástegui looked out over a sea of teenage girls who sat before him in a mammoth gymnasium in Mexico. They wore blue skirts, white blouses, bobby socks, and black saddle shoes—like figures from an old black-and-white drawing pulled from a chapter on purity in the…
Ostriches are among the more wondrous curiosities fashioned by the hands of Our Lord—gaunt, buffoonish knaves who barely made the cut as Noah’s Ark closed its proverbial doors, and who, as a result, now roam the earth with divine indifference. Adorned with chaste plumage and necks soaring to Babelic heights, these birds boast the remarkable…
The raft of executive orders aimed at scaling back government support for non-defense programs like welfare, health care, and foreign aid has led to everything from emotional stress to physical suffering and mortality for program dependents, as well as everything from criticism to contempt from those who consider those services the moral duty of government….
Was Jesus really a “faithful Jew?” Asserting as much has become a common rhetorical ploy of those—such as Cardinal Dolan and Professor Robert P. George—who wish to exaggerate the continuity between Judaism and Christianity. Like all effective rhetorical ploys, it contains a measure of truth, yet it neglects important distinctions, generating confusion rather than clarity….
We have come to the 10th Sunday after Pentecost in the Usus Antiquior, the Vetus Ordo. In this Sunday’s Epistle, Paul confronts the Corinthians with the issue of idolatry, reminding them that “when you were heathen, you were led astray to dumb idols” (1 Cor 12:2). To serve idols is to turn from the living…
History is a double-edged sword. It provides us with a glimpse of generosity, consequences, and the destructive habits of human nature. Knowing that history repeats itself, and human nature is rather predictable because of Original Sin, it should not come as a surprise that the modern world has positioned itself to God’s judgment. Though the…
Does anyone know what the central myth of America might be? I mean, isn’t there a story out there we tell ourselves about our origins? Our destiny as a nation? What is it that defines us as a free and independent people? The answer, from the beginning, has been the belief that, at least in…
Let me be direct: other than Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, I’m no fan of modern depictions of the life of Jesus. Whether it’s Jesus of Nazareth or The Chosen or just about any other attempt, modern portrayals of Christ’s fall flat. They typically insert too much of our modern world into the…
