A sub-category of News.
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…
Grant, Lord, a blessing. Benediction. May God the Father Omnipotent, be to us merciful and clement. ℟. Amen. Reading 4 From the Sermons of St. John of Damascus. 2nd on the Falling-asleep of Blessed Mary. This day the holy and animated Ark of the living God, which had held within it its own Maker, is…
Exactly six centuries ago, on August 15, 1425, Saint Frances of Rome established the Oblates of the Benedictine Congregation of Monte Oliveto in the Basilica of Santa Maria Nova, Rome. Reflecting on her life and the institution she established, Pope Benedict XVI spoke to the Oblates at the Roman monastery of Tor de’ Specchi: Born…
Evil—elusive and often misunderstood—does not lurk only in the kind of vicious act of cruelty perpetrated by the monstrous Bryan Kohberger when he brutally murdered four innocent University of Idaho students in November 2022. Yet, in the lead-up to his sentencing last month, media commentators speculated on what could have motivated Kohberger to commit such…
